Rabies Dangers and Vaccination

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Table of Contents

Introduction
Danger of Rabies
Recommendations
Approaches to Control Rabies
Conclusion
References

Introduction

Rabies, a fatal infectious disease, is a terrible and feared threat to society health, which is present on all continents except for Antarctica. Africa and Asia continue to report the highest records from rabies reaching thousands of human fatalities annually. In many regions, the disease is considered as under-reported, so its impact on human health is admittedly starkly negative. There are several ways of dealing with rabies, the bait drop strategies being the most effective ones. However, although preventing many humans and animals from the disease, current strategies still have not helped to wipe out the infection spread completely. An alternative way of dealing with the problem has to be devised since the disease is far from being eradicated.

Danger of Rabies

Rabies has an almost 100% fatality rate infecting all mammals, and wildlife is the main reservoir for the disease. Previously, the control of disease in wild animals “relied upon population reduction of rabies reservoir species” with people trapping or hunting animals that pose a risk to humans (Mähl et al., 2014, p. 1). However, these measures were unproductive, so the idea of immunization via oral vaccine baits emerged. Nowadays, it is an effective way of decreasing the amount of rabies-infected species but it is still not enough to prevent all the people from getting the disease.

One of the most important tasks for society is to control the spread of diseases, and rabies is among those that are targeted the most. Communities hold regular public clinics so that cats, dogs, rabbits, and other domestic animals can be vaccinated and encourage homeowners to ensure that their property does not attract wild animals with food. Another way of controlling rabies is public education, which helps people be aware of the threat and implications of getting infected. The primary target audience is pet owners and children since both are the most in touch with animals that may transmit the disease. Moreover, to make sure that there is no threat to them, people have to report if they witness wild animals acting strangely or during the unnatural time of day (for example, nocturnal bats and raccoons out and about during the day).

Recommendations

If a rabid animal attacks a person, The World Health Organization recommends post-exposure prophylaxis, and both humans and animals that are at risk are advised to use a pre-exposure or prophylactic scheme. The first rabies vaccine was “based on crude preparations of animal neuronal tissues that were poorly immunogenic and needed several doses to induce immunity,” but it was later replaced with safer cell-culture-derived vaccines (Fooks et al., 2014, p.6). An important thing to remember is that if the vaccination is initiated in time, it can almost certainly prevent a fatality.

Approaches to Control Rabies

There are several approaches to control rabies, and DNA vaccination technology is a promising way to prevent such diseases. “The commercial development of DNA vaccines against certain pathogens that use veterinary species as their specific host is completely feasible” (Shah et al., 2014, p. 888). Today, efforts must be concentrated on human’s immunity improvement which can be achieved by “searching for appropriate adjuvants, the optimal administration or potent delivery system” (Shah et al., 2014, p. 888). The other alternative option to the bait drop is strategic trapping of wild animals and releasing them upon vaccination. The strategy can be used with most of the animals, but skunks should be the main priority because they are the most reluctant to the bait drop.

Conclusion

Summing up, rabies is a dangerous viral disease which is mostly spread in wildlife and constitutes a significant threat to the health of humans and other species. Scientists have developed several strategies of controlling rabies, and the bait drop is among the most successful ones. However, to reach a higher level of protection, alternative approaches such as trapping and releasing wild animals, educational programs, and DNA vaccination, have to be implemented.

References

Fooks, A. R., Banyard, A. C., Horton, D. L., Johnson, N., McElhinney, L. M., & Jackson, A. C. (2014). Current status of rabies and prospects for elimination. The Lancet, 384(9951), 1389–1399.

Mähl, P., Cliquet, F., Guiot, A.-L., Niin, E., Fournials, E., Saint-Jean, N., Gueguen, S. (2014). Twenty year experience of the oral rabies vaccine SAG2 in wildlife: A global review. Veterinary Research, 45(1).

Shah, M. A. A., Khan, S. U., Ali, Z., Yang, H., Liu, K., & Mao, L. (2014). Applications of Nanoparticles for DNA based rabies vaccine. Journal of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, 14(1), 881–891.

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Rabies Dangers and Vaccination

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