rabies vaccination at home

what is rabies?

Rabies is a deadly disease caused primarily by the rabies virus. Rabies causes inflammation of the human brain followed by coma and then death. Rabies can only be diagnosed after the symptoms show themselves and once the symptoms appear, there is high probability of death. Hence, if bitten by an infected animal, the person should seek treatment quickly, as treatment works best before the appearance of the symptoms.

There are two types of rabies;

1. Encephalitic rabies – Also known as furious rabies, it is the most common form of rabies found in humans and results in hyperactivity and hydrophobia.
2. Paralytic rabies – This form of rabies is also referred to as dumb rabies and causes paralysis but, it is pretty rare in humans.

rabies causes

The prime rabies cause in humans is the bite or scratches of a rabies virus infected animal. A person can also get infected by the rabies virus if the saliva of an infected animal gets in contact with an open wound or gets in the body through the mouth and eyes. People working with bats or who live in areas where rabies is common form the high risk group of people and should get rabies vaccine to secure themselves against the virus.

Rabies virus can affect a person in two ways;

• It either enters directly into the peripheral nervous system and then migrates to the brain
• Or it can replicate within the muscle tissue and then sneaks into the nervous system through the neuromuscular junction

rabies treatment

The effectiveness of the rabies treatment depends upon the time of medical intervention, before the symptoms appear, because once the symptoms appear then it could lead to death as there is no rabies cure available once the symptom shows itself.

The best rabies cure is seeking treatment as soon as being bitten or scratched by an animal or for that matter coming in contact with an infected animal’s saliva. A person should not even wait for the diagnosis and seek treatment for rabies immediately, which include getting immune globulin rabies injection near the site of the animal bite. After this the person would be given a series of rabies injection vaccine over the period of next 2 to four weeks to help the body fight with the rabies virus whenever it finds it.

anti rabies vaccine

Anti rabies vaccine is a vaccination meant to prevent rabies.  There are several types of anti rabies vaccines available and are all safe and effective.  These anti rabies vaccine are meant to provide protection against rabies disease before and for some time after being exposed to the rabies virus via a dog bite or bat bite. The rabies vaccine is administered via an injection and the anti rabies injection usually provide protection for a long time once the anti rabies injection full course has been completed.

People under high exposure risk to the virus are recommended to get rabies vaccination before potential exposure. The rabies vaccine is safe to use and can be safely administered across all age groups.

After being potentially exposed to the rabies virus, rabies vaccination is administrated along with rabies immunoglobulin.

rabies vaccine side effects

The rabies vaccine is typically safe to use, however, in some cases the rabies injection can show a few side effects. These anti rabies vaccine side effects are;

• Pain, swelling, itching and redness of the area where the rabies injection was shot
• Headache
• Dizziness
• Nausea
• Stomach pain
• Pain in the muscles
• People having allergic reactions like, swelling of the face, tongue lips or throats, after the first shot of the rabies vaccine, should not continue with the rapid vaccine dose.

anti rabies vaccine schedule

The pre – exposure anti rabies vaccine schedule is as follows;

• Rabies vaccine dose 1 as appropriate
• Rabies vaccination dose 2 to be administered after 7 days of dose 1
• Dose 3 of the rabies vaccination is given after 21 to 28 days of the first dose

Rabies vaccination after exposure consists of four doses. The post exposure anti rabies vaccine schedule is as follows;

• First rabies vaccine dose to be given immediately after being bitten or getting in contact with the saliva of an infected animal
• The second dose is given on the third day
• The third dose is given on the 7^th day from the first dose
• The final rabies vaccine dose is given on the 14^th day of the first dose
• People having pre exposure rabies vaccination done only require two doses of the rabies vaccine; the first dose given immediately after an animal bite or scratch and the second dose on the 3^rd day and rabies immunoglobulin is not needed in their cases.

how can we help?

Rabies is an extremely dangerous disease and India has the many cases of this disease and deaths due to this disease, because of the presence of large number of stray dogs. As such it is better to be safe than getting infected and seeking treatment. To help you get this important rabies vaccine at home, we offer vaccination service at home. Our doctors will come to your doorstep to administer this rabies vaccination and its booster shot to you and/or your loved one within the comfort of your home.  So if you need rabies vaccine at home just give us a call and we will provide you all the doses of the rabies vaccine at your home and would also educate you about it.