Dangerous Infection Ten year old boy with rabies in the clinic

Ten year old boy after dog bite ill with rabies

Rabies is still considered one of the most dangerous infectious diseases worldwide. In this country, it has been largely eradicated for several years, but in Africa and Asia, the disease is still ubiquitous. This was a fate even for a little boy from France. The child was infected by a dog bite during a holiday in Sri Lanka. Now the ten-year-old is in hospital in his home country.

Rabies demands tens of thousands every year

According to World Health Organization (WHO) estimates, around 59,000 people die of rabies each year worldwide. In Germany, the dangerous infectious disease was virtually eradicated. Only in bats, the virus could be detected in this country in recent years, which is why experts warn that they never touch the animals with their bare hands. However, the disease is still prevalent in many countries in Africa and Asia. This was also a fatal accident for a child from France. The boy was on vacation in Sri Lanka.

In France, rabies was diagnosed in a 10-year-old child. The child had been infected while on vacation in Sri Lanka by a dog bite. (Image: Isabel B. Meyer / fotolia.com)

Little boy from France infected with deadly disease

Rabies has been detected in a ten-year-old child in France. According to a report in the French newspaper Le Monde, the boy has been treated in a hospital since last week.

According to a statement from the health department of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in Lyon, the boy had already become infected during a stay in Sri Lanka in August when he was bitten on a beach by a dog.

According to health experts, the viruses are almost always transmitted through scratches or bites by dogs or other infected mammals.

But even if damaged skin or the mucous membranes of the mouth, nose or eye, for example, come into contact with infected dog saliva, the virus can be transmitted.

No cure

There is no cure for the disease. Although it does not break out with anyone who has become infected, but it breaks out, it ends almost 100 percent deadly.

After an infection, uncharacteristic symptoms such as headache and loss of appetite first occur. Fever is not always present.

Also, burning, itching and increased sensitivity to pain in the bite area are possible.

Later, it comes to cramping in the throat muscles and considerable fear of drinking. The mental state of the patients alternates between aggressive and depressive moods.

"Death usually occurs in a coma and under the signs of respiratory paralysis. Between the onset of the first symptoms and death are in untreated patients a maximum of 7 days, "writes the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) on its website.

Years can pass until the onset of the disease

"As a rule, the incubation period is three to eight weeks. In some cases, it may even take several years for the disease to break out, "explained Professor Dr. med. Tomas Jelinek, Scientific Director of the CRM Center for Travel Medicine in a Communication.

The expert reminds you to always consider the risk of rabies in long-distance travel and to get vaccinated beforehand if necessary.

There are effective vaccines available that can help even shortly after an animal bite.

Infected abroad

Rabies is extremely rare in France and Germany. The French authorities have registered only 23 cases since 1970 - all of them had been infected abroad.

The Health Department in Lyon highlighted that no human infection has been detected worldwide - except for very rare exceptions where organs of an infected donor have been transplanted.

Nevertheless, as a precaution, those persons were identified who had direct contact with the saliva or tears of the affected child. Now it will be checked if they should be vaccinated.

According to RKI, the last rabies case in Germany occurred in February 2006 at a fox near Mainz. Domestic and wild animals, especially foxes, are still under surveillance, but these are only safety measures.

Germany and France are officially considered "rabies free".

"The last case of rabies in a person in Germany occurred in 2007. It was a man who was bitten in Morocco by a stray dog, "said the RKI. (Ad)