HUMAN RABIES - Suspected in UK patient, bitten by dog in PI

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BBC Friday, 4 May, 2001, 22:12 GMT 23:12 UK

Suspected rabies case treated

The UK has fought to keep rabies out of the country

Doctors in the UK are treating a suspected case of rabies, the Public Health Laboratory Service has confirmed.

The patient, who is described as being seriously ill at a London hospital, was bitten by a dog while travelling in the Philippines, where the disease is known to be carried by dogs.

Doctors are awaiting the results of tests on the patient, whose identity and sex has not been revealed, to confirm the disease, a PHLS spokesperson said.

Cases of rabies are not common in the UK, the last indigenous case of infection being in 1902.

Vaccines can be given to people who are at risk of contracting rabies, and these vaccines can be given to people who are newly bitten by a dog.

Other than the vaccine, there is no other treatment for the disease, which is often fatal.

The PHLS spokesperson said: "Rabies affects the central nervous system and the brain.

"It is usually fatal, but those who do survive, often survive with disabilities.

'Terrible' human disease

"The symptoms are anxiety, a headache and a fever, followed by a spasm of the swallowing muscles leading to ultimate paralysis."

David Warrell, a professor of tropical medicine at Oxford University, told BBC News 24 that rabies is "one of the most terrible of human diseases".

He said it was "theoretically possible" for human-to-human transmission of the disease but stressed that the risk was "not zero but incredibly low".

-- Anonymous, May 04, 2001


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