The disease is caused by rabies virus and rabies in human through animal bites or scratches a rabies patient or can be wound through the saliva of animals exposed to rabies patients. Although rare, rabies virus can be transmitted when the saliva of infected animals on a mucous membrane such as the eyelid or mouth, or through skin contact is open.
Rabies (hydrophobia) is usually carried by dogs, cats, monkeys, ferrets and wolves, can affect the central nervous system. Animals including warm-blooded, including humans (men), so easily affected by this disease. But, the spread of diseases among humans is rare.
In pathogenesis, the rabies virus enter through the bite wound, during the two weeks the virus remains in place in and near. Then, the virus will move to reach the ends of nerve fibers showed posterios without function changes. Virus incubation period varies, ranging between two weeks to two years. But generally 3-8 weeks, depending on the distance the virus before it reaches the brain. Arriving in the brain, the virus will reproduce and spread widely in all parts of neurons, especially having special predileksi of cells of the limbic system, hypothalamus and brain stem. Once propagated in central neurons, the virus then moves toward the periphery in the efferent nerve fibers, voluntary and autonomous. Thus it attacks nearly every organ and tissue in the body and multiply in tissues such as salivary glands, kidneys and so on.
Once the rabies virus into the human body through the bite of an animal then this virus will spread to every muscle in your body. The climax of this virus will reach the brain and attacking many important parts of the brain that can eventually cause death.
Rabies symptoms
Clinically, the symptoms of rabies can be divided into:
- Prodromal Stage. The initial symptoms include fever, headache, malaise, bone pain, loss of appetite, nausea, pain in the throat, cough and fatigue for a few days (1-4 days). These symptoms are specific symptoms of people infected with rabies virus that appears 1-2 months after an animal bite rabies virus carriers.
- Sensory Stadium. The patient felt pain, a burning sensation accompanied by numbness in the bite scars. Followed by symptoms of anxiety and excessive reactions to sensory stimuli.
- Excitation Stadium. Muscle tone and sympathetic activity to be rising with symptoms hiperhidrosis, hipersalivasi, hiperlakrimasi and pupil dilation. Along with this exciting stage of disease peaked very typical at this stage is the existence of various phobias, which are often among hidrofobi (fear of water). Contraction of pharyngeal muscles and respiratory muscles can also be caused by sensory stimuli such as air blowing into the face of the patient or a drop light into the eye or by tapping the hand to the ear of the patient. At this stage can occur apnoe, cyanosis, and tachycardia konvulsan. Actions are not rational people sometimes accompanied by maniakal moments responsive. The symptoms of this excitation can be continued until the patient died, but at close to death was more frequent limp muscles, so there paresis flaksid muscles.
- Stadium paralysis. Most people died of rabies in the excitation stage. Sometimes found also the case with no symptoms of excitation, but the paresis of the muscles is progressive. This is because the spinal cord disorder that shows rabies symptoms of muscle paresis that is ascending, which later died due to paralysis of respiratory muscles. Without a serious treatment, death can occur 4-20 days after symptoms appear. Incubation of rabies infection is generally occurred within 1-2 months after the incident, although the time span of 10 days up to one year.
