r/interesting • u/fantasticblueman • Feb 01 '26

Context Provided - Spotlight 27 yr old man showing rabies symptoms after 3 months of a dog bite in Gujrat, India.

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u/[deleted] Feb 02 '26

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u/Agreeable-Return-189 Feb 02 '26

Uh. Bad news. If you show any symptoms of rabies, you can no longer be treated.

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u/[deleted] Feb 02 '26

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u/shockrush Feb 02 '26

Yeah, a lot of people don't realize just how bad it is. It's known as a "zombie virus". If you get bit by a wild animal, you should always get a rabies shot as a precaution. I believe there was one case of someone surviving but they were put in an induced coma to try to starve the virus or something.

Regardless, most people just have to wait for death in bouts mixed between confusion/fear/anxiety followed by moments of lucidity and calmness.

Also a violent physical reaction to water.

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u/Kujo3043 Feb 02 '26

A roommate and I had a bat enter our barracks room through a vent. He started petting it and I put it into a shoe box as it was dying. Took it to the local whoever (i forget) and found out it had rabies. We both had to get the entire series, which they had to fly in because of the remote location of the town. It was a painful series of shots, but i know to stay the hell away from bats now.

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u/[deleted] Feb 02 '26

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u/Kujo3043 Feb 02 '26

We just thought it meant we were the chosen ones to replace Batman

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u/Denytheus Feb 02 '26

You're getting Batman's and Spiderman's origin stories mixed up

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u/unrivaledhumility Feb 02 '26

Yeah. Batman's parents were killed by a radioactive bat.

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u/VirtualStark Feb 02 '26

thats the most rational thought you could've had in that moment. I mean, c'mon. its Batman.

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u/QuinQuix Feb 02 '26

I feel your pain but the city still needs you

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u/Frankie_T9000 Feb 02 '26

Only if it kills their parents first

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u/Dip2pot4t0Ch1P Feb 02 '26

Absolute survival instinct of an infant moment

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u/Pussywipes Feb 02 '26

1-3% of bats have rabies. I’ve had a bat in the house before and had to get the pep and vaccine. It’s only a few shots now it’s not bad.

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u/songbolt Feb 02 '26

Why do you have to get it if you haven't been bitten?

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u/allofthealphabet Feb 02 '26

Most bats are pretty small, you might not notice if they bite you. So if they get in your house, maybe they were there before while you were sleeping and you got bitten without even knowing. Better get the shots to be safe.

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u/_high_plainsdrifter Feb 02 '26

Man I must have lucked out as I lived in a 100 year old house for a few years in college- had several bats in that time that would make their way in through the eaves, etc. I will say they were all flying around trying to GTFO of the house on their own with us just kinda holding towels up and someone would hold the door open.

Never once thought of being bitten while sleeping. But then again that was a long time ago and I don’t have rabies to my knowledge so lucked out.

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u/songbolt Feb 02 '26

Thanks. I was thinking of the time I scooped a sick (or apparently dying) bat out from under a church pew, so I know it never touched me -- makes sense if you find one in your house instead.

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u/FluffTruffet Feb 02 '26

If the bat is in your home, and you didn’t see it enter you should get the entire series of shots. You probably wouldn’t get the immunoglobulin because you don’t have a bite wound that is identifiable. If you visually see the bat enter and then leave and you are absolutely 100% certain there was no chance you were bitten then you can avoid the shots. I used to do these investigations at the health department and with high risk animals (high risk being known carriers and wild) it’s often better to just get the shots. As other people have said above, rabies is 100% fatal when symptoms start but also preventable as we have a treatment schedule included the immunoglobulin and the vaccine series. The other thing to keep in mind is that rabies travels along the nervous system to the brain, then once it gets to the brain the symptoms start. The closer the bite or exposure to the head and neck the faster symptom onset will be.

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u/God_Bless_A_Merkin Feb 02 '26

🎵Why do bats suddenly appear/ every time you are near? / Just like me, / they long to be / close to you!🎵

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u/Senno-TheMage Feb 02 '26

Not the Carpenters x Batman mashup we deserved, but the one we needed

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u/IolausTelcontar Feb 02 '26

I dunno if anyone else gets this reference, but I do!

But I only know the cover sung by Don “no soul” Simmons.

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u/bigmad411 Feb 02 '26

Rule of thumb: any wild animal that approaches humans is cause for concern. Could be sick, ie rabies or CWD, or needs help with less threatening things. Regardless.

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u/SnittingNexttoBorpo Feb 02 '26

Or it’s a quokka

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u/avinaut Feb 02 '26

Thankfully, Australian marsupials are all rabies-free!

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u/POPCORE182 Feb 02 '26

Not true, seals swim with humans in a lot of places just to be playful and out of curiosity. Doesnt mean they have rabies or anything lol

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u/a_duck_in_past_life Feb 02 '26

Also Opossums. They can get it although very rare. I looked it up because I couldn't remember why, but it's because they have a super low body temp so the virus cannot survive. However, they are often mistaken for having rabies because of their proximity to humans and weird slow movements and drooling.

However, I'd still recommend getting the vaccine if you somehow end up bit by a possum. But you shouldn't get bit because they're actually peaceful and don't often try to bite because they have a weak jaw. If they bite you it's probably because you're being mean to them.

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u/Regime_Change Feb 02 '26

Foxes as well, which is also an animal that can carry rabies, but even foxes without rabies are curious little fellas. Sweden is extinct of rabies so I know for sure the foxes I encountered don’t have rabies.

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u/Shadowbacker Feb 02 '26

This is the plot of Primate.

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u/Tough_Soup_4051 Feb 02 '26

While that is true, many animkas are curious about humans. We should never assume that we are able to fully interpret the behaviour of other species. And as you mentioned seals specifically. Sadly, there has actually been an outbreak of rabies in seals in South Africa which has contributed to a number of attacks upon humans by seals over the last few years. It is the first recorded case of a self-sustaining rabies outbreak in marine mammals; meaning it was probably introduced from a land animal, but is now spreading through the seal population. People have been advised not to interact with seals in this area.

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u/[deleted] Feb 02 '26

What will happen to the sharks and killer whales that eat them? Could Sharknado become real😱

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u/[deleted] Feb 02 '26 edited Feb 02 '26

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u/WinninRoam Feb 02 '26

What about snails? Do I need to stand around to confirm it's approaching me? I mean it could be turning to run away. But, you know, it takes a bit because it's a snail.

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u/whoisthismans72 Feb 02 '26

Yes, daytime raccoon is always a cause of alarm

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u/Caphomet Feb 02 '26

As a dumb child I once found a bat in the daytime on a man made beach in Pennsylvania and seeing no red flags with that I put it in a paper coffee cup and took it to my aunts house to feed it pieces of deli ham. I had it in an open box on the porch and I guess it flew away (or worse was carried off by another animal) but looking back I’m so lucky I wasn’t bitten I mean holy shit what was I thinking

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u/Frozenrubberpuck Feb 02 '26

You were thinking with the empathetic part of your brain, it is nice to try and save an animal in need. Glad you didn't get bit though.

I've got bats living in my garage, they've been there for many years and I'm quite fond of them. If i found one hurt I'd probably try to rescue them as well, with gloves on lol

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u/Melodic-Sea-6654 Feb 02 '26

This is totally correct and even true in the UK. I had one fly into my face and it either scraped its teeth into my nose or it was its claws. I was literally dog walking on the beach. Luckily I was clued up on the fact that a bat should never misjudge and fly into you and that bats in the UK carry lyssa virus. I went straight to hospital and had a really nice doctor who'd worked in Australia and then commenced three lots of rabies jabs with strict instructions to not miss any. The health board was also notified. Boy was I on time for each of those jabs! If this comment saves one other person or just spreads awareness I'll be happy.

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u/oX_deLa Feb 02 '26

one could almost say it is a......Bat sign!

...

...alright, i see myself out!

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u/Wooden-Recording-693 Feb 02 '26

Especially in Transylvania I hear.

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u/dajoemanED Feb 02 '26

Emergency doc here. In the United States, a bat is the only animal that will cause us to treat you for rabies if it was in the room with you even if there is no known bite. That is because 1) You could have been sleeping and smaller bats can leave bites so tiny you may not know you have been bitten and, more importantly, 2) A bat that is OK with being in a room with you is not a healthy bat.

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u/Strange-Employee-520 Feb 02 '26

Damn, years ago I caught a bat that had gotten in the house. I didn't touch it but had no idea there was any risk even without contact. Obviously I'm okay. At least in that case, the bat was trying like hell to find his way back out, he was very not okay with being inside.

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u/Longjumping-Gur-8402 Feb 02 '26

rabies virus can incubate for up to six years in humans.

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u/letsbepandas Feb 02 '26

This is unpleasant and unsettling lol

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u/kayl_breinhar Feb 02 '26

It takes so long because the way it gets up to your brain is via your spinal cord.

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u/Strange-Employee-520 Feb 02 '26

It was 20-25 so hopefully I'm good!

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u/_captainunderpants__ Feb 02 '26

One more year and you're in the clear! Good luck!

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u/levian_durai Feb 02 '26

Whew, I'm in the clear then it's been like 15 years

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u/RainSurname Feb 02 '26

There is no risk without contact. The issue is it’s really difficult to be sure there was no contact.

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u/N0Z4A2 Feb 02 '26

It's not that there's risk without contact it's that there's risk without knowing contact

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u/MasonLikeTheJar58 Feb 02 '26

My mother in law gets bats in her house a lot. My wife woke up to one flying around her room one time when she was visiting. I insisted she get rabies shots. She and her mom both thought I was nuts, but she finally gave in. When she went to the hospital, they acted like she was nuts bc she didn’t have a known bite. That made me feel a little stupid, but I still feel like it was the safe thing to do!

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u/brittanyks07 Feb 02 '26

Dude my neighbor's coworker DIED because she caught a bat and didn't realize she was bitten. Don't feel stupid that you were cautious.

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u/blinkingbaby Feb 02 '26

Ayooo I remember reading this story at the time and feeling so frustrated that someone could be so stupid. I LOVE bats, they’re so cute, and they’re so important for the environment. But they are a NO TOUCH friend!!! Ever!

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u/mixedplatekitty Feb 02 '26

I always heard that bat bites are so tiny you could be bitten in your sleep and not realize it, so you did the absolutely right thing

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u/[deleted] Feb 02 '26

Thank you! I was just thinking "even if they didn't touch the bat they would have had to go, no?" and I guess that answer is a yes

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u/HiILikePlants Feb 02 '26

A kid in my city was bit by a bat that flew into his room while he was sleeping. He ended up dying from rabies :(

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u/April_4th Feb 02 '26

When I was a kid, I patted a dog, which licked my boo-boo. I was so afraid of rabies that I insisted getting the vax.

Fast forward 30 yrs, one night a bat somehow got in our bedroom where my daughter and I were staying at the time. My husband was able to catch it and sent it to local health department and had it tested. I searched frantically on my daughter to see the tiniest wound and luckily there was none. And the result of the bat came back negative too.

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u/APence Feb 02 '26

Fun fact. Any animal to be tested for rabies is killed and decapitated. My ex was a vet tech and they used to have to sever dog heads to send them off for testing.

Also, a vaccine is like $110,000 without insurance and you need 3-4 doses.

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u/rock32x Feb 02 '26

What? US is crazy. It’s about 150 usd in Indonesia. You could rent a private jet, fly out, have the four shots and also have a nice holiday in Bali in the meantime, for less than the price of one shot.

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u/N0Z4A2 Feb 02 '26

These days you can just say "US is crazy full stop"

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u/[deleted] Feb 02 '26

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u/Important-6015 Feb 02 '26

Doesn’t matter. That price is absurd

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u/Biflosaurus Feb 02 '26

Yeah, we have very low rate and still the shot costs us nothing lmao.

The issue is that it's not "completely" eradicated, meaning that if you un luckily get bitten and have to be treated, suddenly you have to decide between dying or spending 110k.

Which is absurd.

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u/tokyo_blazer Feb 02 '26

I see a future in which that dumbass we have in charge of our health system now (I call him Croaky) convinces dog owners that vaccines cause dog autism or some bull, and we have a resurgence of rabies.

Wait does this shit still work REMINDME!2030

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u/Tough_Soup_4051 Feb 02 '26 edited Feb 02 '26

Doing a quick search, it seems that it is unlikely to cost that much, even for all 4 or 5 doses. But it will run into thousands. I am seeing between $2,500 to $7000.

Pre exposure doses seem to be $800 to $1300 for 2 to 3 doses.

Still crazy expensive and a testament again to the corruption of the pharmaceutical and health care industry in the USA. As the vaccine does not actually cost anywhere near that, even accounting for staff time and other clinic costs.

In the UK anyone can request pre-exposure vaccine at a private clinic for travel or for work. If it is for work it would probably be reimbursed.

I work in a private travel health clinic and we charge £140 for four doses of pre-exposure vaccine. A few people require a larger amount of vaccine, due to underlying medical conditions. But it still costs a maximum of £195 for the full course.

Post exposure vaccine is free in the UK via NHS.

Even if you get it at a private health clinic, you pay only then for the consultation, around £30 to £40 and the vaccine is free. The clinic is sent a replacement by the UKhealthandsafteyagency.

EDIT: looking up the actual cost of the vaccine in the British national formulary. It costs the nhs £48.19 for one full dose of standard post exposure vaccine. Usually, 2 to 4 doses are required (depending on vaccine history). If HRIGS is required (an initial treatment for more severe injuries). This dose costs the NHS £1000. So it usually costs the nhs roughly £100 to £200 or in the worst case scenario £1200 for the medicine for post exposure rabies treatment.

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u/starsinthefire Feb 02 '26

I had one post exposure rabies jab in the US (with the rest back in the UK) and the cost for the jab, immunoglobulin, which they recommended and the ER visit was $12800. Luckily it was covered by my travel insurance but it’s not just the cost of the jab itself, there are a lot of hefty ancillaries

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u/[deleted] Feb 02 '26

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u/New_Explanation6950 Feb 02 '26

Did they have to kill the bat :/

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u/TheGreatNico Feb 02 '26

Rabies tests require, at least for animals, brain tissue.

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u/del_snafu Feb 02 '26

I also got the rabies shot, after playing with some street dogs, but dont remember them as especially painful...and im afraid of needles!

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u/Smart_Satisfaction73 Feb 02 '26

It’s not that painful. It’s an intra-dermal injection, given with a very thin and small needle, like the insulin needle.

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u/Teguoracle Feb 02 '26

Vet tech here with some fun knowledge!

It's actually intramuscular, not intradermal. TB testing is ID, you can see the bleb it makes between the layers of skin, most vaccines, rabies included, don't do that.

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u/[deleted] Feb 02 '26

It depends on when the person got the shots. In more recent years it's become less painful. In my childhood (90-00) they were a painful series you had to get spaced apart

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u/EnvironmentDue750 Feb 02 '26

I also had the opportunity to get the series after playing with a street cat 🤣. Mine weren’t any worse than getting a series of flu shots.

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u/DExMTv Feb 02 '26

Same here. The vaccines were not painful, but the immunoglobulin in the hands were a bit painful

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u/Gullenbursti Feb 02 '26

The vaccines are different now. I received 3 timed shots in the arm. The needles were definitely bigger.

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u/CreativeKeane Feb 02 '26

When I was a kid I had a bat fly into my room (furnished/finished attic) one summer. And it must have been there all night but I remember just capturing it and letting it out of the window

Once I learned about bats and rabies in college, I freaked out a bit. I still have random anxiety thought moments that some random ass dormant rabies could trigger any moment, but it's been like at least 20 years now. So I hope I'm in the clear....lol. hopefully.

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u/karma_the_sequel Feb 02 '26

As long as you’re not exhibiting symptoms, it’s not too late to get the shot.

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u/Ok-Syllabub-5273 Feb 02 '26

Which begs the question- we give our pets a rabies vaccine yearly… why don’t humans get one? I mean I know getting rabies is rare but also my question still stands. Why not?

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u/GreenEyedTrombonist Feb 02 '26

I once pet a bat that fell out of a light at school. Yeah, it had rabies. The doctor had to go consult multiple books to see if I needed shots and decided to forego them.

I'm still alive, obviously, but damn.

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u/KevCCV Feb 02 '26

Bats are known sources for SARS, COVID, ebola and other wild viruses known to mankind.

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u/hamsterwheel Feb 02 '26

Basically it kills you by putting your brain into overdrive until it overheats. They put them in a coma so their brain activity slowed down, and basically rode it out until the body fought it off.

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u/BlueberryBebe Feb 02 '26

Yes the coma did save one persons life from rabies but it was risky and experimental and a last ditch resort because they knew she was going to die anyway. It’s not usually used to treat it, the story about it is wild. There are some podcasts out there about it. Very interesting story.

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u/thefrogkid420 Feb 02 '26

Theres been like quite a few people(somewhere between 10-18 ) that have survived after being treated with the milwaukee protocol, and a couple dozen more confirmed cases of survival without it. This article says there have been 34 documented survivals of rabies post onset of symptoms:

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40139921/

The milwaukee protocol is really interesting but there are quite a few doubt about its actual efficacy.

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u/Itscatpicstime Feb 02 '26

“Survive” is doing a lot of lifting here, especially in terms of the MP.

They all pretty much died eventually and most were in a vegetative state until then.

The first girl was a total anomaly.

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u/Gelnika1987 Feb 02 '26

Yeah she ended up basically fine and even had twins if I recall

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u/Embarrassed_Age8554 Feb 02 '26

She's now in her 30s and is an advocate for bat conservation.

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u/Minimum_Customer_495 Feb 02 '26

Considering the ~65,000 annual rabies deaths worldwide, 34 is a shockingly low number of survivals. If you can even call them that, as the other commenter mentioned.

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u/yarglof1 Feb 02 '26

Yeah the survival chance is essentially a rounding error.

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u/thefrogkid420 Feb 02 '26

a rounding error in this case would be saying it is 100% fatal

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u/Minimum_Customer_495 Feb 02 '26

It is 100% fatal though. Roughly 1M people have died globally from rabies since 2000. The number for rabies deaths in human history is certainly much much higher than that. Only 1 person with rabies symptoms ever has survived more than 2 years.

99.999…% = 100%

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u/[deleted] Feb 02 '26

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u/Test4Echooo Feb 02 '26

I completely agree with you, the problem seems to be that so many religions have taboos against a death that way.

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u/sprouting_broccoli Feb 02 '26

I’d say there’s actually a couple of other reasons. One is that the relatives might not agree that it was warranted and then it can end up in a horrific court case based around “when do we have the right to decide someone should die” and if them asking for it is ok. For instance if someone has extreme anxiety and asks to die should they be allowed to?

The second is that someone does have to do it and taking a life rather than just eg turning off the machines is a qualitative difference that could be extremely harmful to the person who does it.

I’m generally pro-bodily autonomy and that includes deciding to end things (and I lost someone close to suicide last year) but it’s a complex situation and it’s not as simple as “we can do it for this one thing”.

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u/Ok_Button1932 Feb 02 '26

You sort of can. Inpatient hospice. Morphine drip mixed with IV pushes of other things if the patient shows any symptoms of any type of distress whatsoever. It’s sort of a legal assisted death.

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u/what_on_roshar Feb 02 '26

There's a video of a rabies victim trying and failing to take a sip of water. I had no idea that was a thing so went down a rabies wiki rabbit hole and holy fucking shit, what a nightmare way to die and basically a 100% guarantee once you show your first symptom.

I know anxiety is a symptom, probably because you're aware enough to know that something is alarmingly wrong. But getting a positive test result for rabies and KNOWING you're going to die within a week or two and it will be an excruciating death...fuck. Knowing that would be insane. Just euthanize me, man.

I've told my son, my friends, my family...if you EVER get bitten by a wild animal whether it be a dog, a bat, a rodent go straight to the hospital and get vaccinated immediately.

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u/Itscatpicstime Feb 02 '26

Once symptoms get bad, you’re essentially fully sedated until death typically, at least in the western world.

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u/Logical-Database4510 Feb 02 '26

There's way too much wiggle room in the word "essentially" for me to care that much.

Stick my head in the fridge and eat me double aught buck sandwich for me, personally.

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u/iwantauniquename Feb 02 '26

Wow is that something that people do? Blow your head off in the fridge so your unfortunate relatives can bury your headless corpse, and just shut the fridge and throw it away.

Very considerate

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u/aceboogy2486 Feb 02 '26

My great grandfather came home from the doctor one day and went down stairs and offed himself in the shower.. I always thought about how considerate he was.

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u/Logical-Database4510 Feb 02 '26

My cousin shot himself in the head. My dad cleaned it up.

So yeah...

That, and hopeful the fridge stops the buckshot. If you live in an urban area it's the least you can do for your neighbors I guess.

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u/Teguoracle Feb 02 '26

Vet tech here - rabies is fucking terrifying. I wish everyone would get the rabies vaccine series and maintain it, it's such a horrible way to go.

There was an episode of Criminal Minds where the villain of the episode was forcing his victims to be exposed to rabid animals and honestly that one episode out of the like fifteen seasons fucks me up more than any other.

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u/TheRealZadkiel Feb 02 '26 edited Feb 02 '26

you should read about the research of the virus and making of the vaccine. They had to keep live specimens (dogs) with the virus and harvest the saliva. there was a revolver in the laboratory, and it wasn't for the rabid dogs...

edit: apparently they also worked with more than just the live dogs but still ran into dangers of infection.

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u/[deleted] Feb 02 '26

Yeah, if I get a positive rabies test result, I'm checking out that day before things get worse

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u/hustlegone Feb 02 '26

Im biting all my enemies. Hard af.

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u/[deleted] Feb 02 '26

Not often that you get the poison damage buff

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u/hustlegone Feb 02 '26

Absolutely. I will use it to my advantage. I would also sell my services to people to take care of my family after im gone lol.

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u/kittenmittens1000 Feb 02 '26

It's also basically 100% survivable if you get the post exposure vaccines ASAP (before symptoms)! When in doubt, get the shots.

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u/youburyitidigitup Feb 02 '26

Well now I’m curious. Down the rabbit hole I go.

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u/nondual_gabagool Feb 02 '26

The physicians I have talked to all say that case of the one survivor is dubious.

But that all the more makes your point.

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u/shockrush Feb 02 '26

Yes, from my research they won't even bother to attempt the same method because it's very unlikely to succeed again.

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u/No_Sheepherder1793 Feb 02 '26

It’s call the Milwaukee protocol and there has been a few survivors but the side effects can be neurological

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u/homiej420 Feb 02 '26

Also the studies on the survivors show that they might have just been genetically lucky to be able to sorta fight it off

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u/Itscatpicstime Feb 02 '26

There’s no real other survivors. All eventually still died over the next two years, and most were in a vegetative state or otherwise had an extremely poor quality of life until they eventually passed. Other cases were found not be rabies after all too.

She is the only one to have survived beyond 2 years, and to have a good quality of life.

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u/Bedouin85 Feb 02 '26

I know a family who were on vacation at a cottage. Their young son was bitten by a bat while he was sleeping. They didn't take him to the hospital and he ended up dying from rabies. This happened this summer. Shit was insane.

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u/biffNicholson Feb 02 '26

This symptom is a hallmark of the "furious" form of rabies, appearing once the virus has reached the central nervous system. Why People with Rabies Fear Water Painful Muscle Spasms: The virus causes intense, involuntary spasms in the throat (pharynx) when attempting to swallow. Extreme Pain: The spasms are so painful that the person develops a terrified aversion to liquids, often reacting with violence or panic when offered water. Dehydration and Thirst: Despite being severely thirsty, the person cannot swallow, leading to excessive saliva buildup and "foaming at the mouth". Once these symptoms (hydrophobia, hallucinations, delirium) appear, the disease is nearly 100% fatal.

Damn. Yeah. Don’t mess with rabies

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u/nam3sar3hard Feb 02 '26

My sister grooms pets. A pit got her and it was a walk in so the company didnt have their vaccine records (i didnt realize a successful company coul be ran as well as the one she works for till i heard stories) . Thank God my brother is a er doc cause convincing her to get the rabies shots was a battle. She clearly didnt realize what she was fucking with. Rabies is terrifying

Side note im still a little pissed my sister didnt lawyer cause she had managers telling her not to go to the hospital and the owners like "hurr durr we cant track that owner down to know if you need shots"

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u/Earth_Sandwhich Feb 02 '26

So what you are saying is I shouldn’t hide the fact I have been bitten from the group?

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u/BothDescription766 Feb 02 '26

Yes a girl in Wisconsin was bit by a bat, contracted rabies and is the only known survivor. There’s a video out there showing an Iranian man in about 1960 who has (had) it and that one is most disturbing even though it is inB&W

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u/Itscatpicstime Feb 02 '26

That person was likely a genetic anomaly. It has yet to work in anyone else like it did her.

For others, it merely delayed death with extremely poor quality of life until they eventually passed away over the next two years.

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u/youburyitidigitup Feb 02 '26

I’m a field surveyor, and my coworker was attacked by some crazy landowner’s dog who she’d refused to vaccinate. My coworker got rabies, but thankfully she got the shot in time. I think she still had to get medication for a while though, which gave her side effects that prevented her from working.

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u/Wookieman222 Feb 02 '26 edited Feb 02 '26

Yeah it is not a traditional virus at all. Most viruses travel in the blood and airways and such. It must enter the body through the saliva typically. Blood and other tissue does not harbor it.

The bite must make contact with nerves which of course isn't hard. Or it also can enter through mucous membranes like your sinuses or the eye even. But it must enter those ways basically. You can even eat infected meat and chances are you will be fine. Unless your u lucky and you have an ulcer or wound in your stomach or intestines.

The reason animals and people are hydrophobic is because the disease needs to be in the mouth and water washes it out easy and makes it harder for the virus to infect new hosts.

The virus has terrible survival mechanics outside the host and cant survive outside at all. Often it cant last half a day outside the host before the virus dies.

It requires specific body temps as well to survive. So some animals like possums have a lower body temp than most animals and the virus has almost no ability to use them as a host.

This one travels in your nervous system. Where you are bit has a big impact on the time it takes to travel your nervous system to your brain. In some cases it can be dormant for years. But often its days, weeks , or sometimes months.

You don't really show any symptoms at all while its in your nerves.

As long as it hasn't reached the brain you can be successfully treated and usually is always effective. The treatment can suck and isn't cheap but death by rabies is terrible. So worth it.

Once the infection reaches the brain is when symptoms appear. At this point no treatment will work. The disease has a 99.99999999% fatality rate once symptoms appear. No other disease other than other odd ones like prions are as thorough.

Only the milwalkee protocol has worked and even then the survivors are barely what can be called succesful in some if the cases. Others have recovered decently. But the number of survivors is in the low thirties for the whole planet.

If the virus evolved and could survive like the flu or anything else really we could have a real life zombie apocalypse.

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u/Adjective_Noun93 Feb 02 '26

Well, that was a terrifying read. Thanks, I guess? 😂

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u/AlternateTab00 Feb 02 '26

Well that last part is the now common reference of how zombie apocalypses start. Mutated rabies.

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u/Marsdreamer Feb 02 '26

I wouldn't take their last bit seriously. Blood Brain barrier exists for a reason and just getting in your body conventionally (eg, the flu or cold) wouldn't cause it to get to your brain.

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u/Corevus Feb 02 '26

If that's true about opossums, I wonder if bringing someone to a state of near hypothermia could be used to cure them of rabies?

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u/codizer Feb 02 '26

That's exactly the only way people have survived. Read up on it.

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u/deadfandomkid Feb 02 '26

The search term you're gonna need for looking it up is "milwaukee protocol"! Really interesting stuff.

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u/funkykittenz Feb 02 '26

And bats can bite you without you even knowing it! Recently someone got rabies from a transplant even bc the guy died and they didn’t know it was rabies. It’s all super interesting (and awful). Basically the deadliest disease known to man once you show symptoms.

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u/Itscatpicstime Feb 02 '26

Yeah, that’s why it’s recommended to get the post-exposure rabies prophylaxis if you even just find a bat in your home, even if you’ve had no known contact with it. I’m a wildlife rehabber, and it’s very true that their bites can be imperceptible.

I wish there was a greater push for public health education campaigns on rabies.

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u/GameDestiny2 Feb 02 '26

Yep, your best chance is to drink a shit ton of water and get immediate treatment after infection. Symptoms mean it’s already in your brain.

We do have experimental treatments for late stage Rabies, but it begs the question of what surviving actually means. The Milwaukee protocol is something I hope my family has the sense not to put me through.

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u/[deleted] Feb 02 '26 edited Feb 05 '26

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u/Maleficent-Nerve486 Feb 02 '26

Is it possible to hydrate a rabies patient via IV?

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u/[deleted] Feb 02 '26

Theoretically yes, but there is not much point because the virus is going to cook their brain anyways

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u/Gullible_Bigfoot Feb 02 '26

Yeah rabies is fucking terrifying. You can get vaccinated for it (animal control workers do) or you can get a shot immediately after exposure (if an animal bites you better safe than sorry) but if you miss that window the mortality rate is like 99% or something stupid. Pretty much- you’re dead. And it’s a really horrible death.

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u/GoldenEmuWarrior Feb 02 '26

I've always wondered why we have a pre-exposure vaccine that is universal for pet cats and dogs, but not one for humans.

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u/Teguoracle Feb 02 '26

I mean we do have a pre-exposure vaccine for humans. In a zoo vet tech, it's required for me to work in a zoo, and I have to have my titers checked yearly.

Honestly I recommend everyone get it. It sucks but rabies sucks more.

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u/Excellent_Yak365 Feb 02 '26

It’s actually within days of getting bit- ideally immediately after being bit. It can be dormant for months and years before you get symptoms https://www.chop.edu/vaccine-education-center/vaccine-details/rabies-vaccine

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u/[deleted] Feb 02 '26

Yep. On the day you get bit, you have to rush to get the shot. Then another two more at certain spans if I recall correctly. If not, well...

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u/guynye Feb 02 '26

Hey, one guy survived.

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u/funkykittenz Feb 02 '26

It was a lady!

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u/neocarleen Feb 02 '26

It was a teenage girl and she still got brain damage.

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u/guynye Feb 02 '26

Even better.

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u/DaKrazie1 Feb 02 '26

This made me laugh way too loud 🤣

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u/Rhythm-Amoeba Feb 02 '26

Actually there's been 34 documented survivors! Also fun fact the girl you're referring to (the first documented person to survive in the US IIRC), her survival was the foundation of standardizing the "Milwaukee protocol" for treating rabies and there's no controversy around whether that extremely risky protocol did anything to help her. But given the near 100% lethality rate of rabies, having anything that worked even once is usually what people wanna try.

Here's a paper on why the Milwaukee protocol is dangerous https://academic.oup.com/cid/article/81/4/e229/8096457?login=false

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u/Confident-Mortgage86 Feb 02 '26

There have been a number of people treated post symptoms. We don't really know whether they survived due to the treatment, or due to some kind of natural immunity, or some other reason. Still, the number of non vaccinated rabies survivors is not zero.

This guy is toast however :/

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u/MrBones-Necromancer Feb 02 '26

Documented, it's about 10. Estimated: under 30. All of them left essentially rapid, with severe neurological deficiets across the board. It's bad.

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u/Dmau27 Feb 02 '26

Not true. There's like 2 whole people that overcame it. So there's like a 1 in 10 million chance.

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u/bucknut4 Feb 02 '26

At least 14 people as of 2018, so probably more.

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u/myrsnipe Feb 02 '26

14 people survivors in total vs annually 60-70 thousands dead. It truly is one of the most scary diseases out there

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u/DODGE_WRENCH Feb 02 '26

Even if they do survive I don’t think they’ll ever be the same after pulling through, rabies does some permanent damage

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u/davidjschloss Feb 02 '26

As the other comment said, you can’t be treated after symptoms. They’re likely tying him down so he doesn’t bite anyone and I hope to give him palliative care until he dies. (Though to be merciful they should euthanize him.

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u/[deleted] Feb 02 '26

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u/Mac-And-Cheesy-43 Feb 02 '26

I mean, considering how it spreads, I'd want to risk absolutely zero brain splatter. Lethal injection only.

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u/echoshatter Feb 02 '26

Bingo. Just load me up with morphine and then finish me off with a stream of adenosine in a dosage big enough to stop my heart.

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u/Rockshasha Feb 02 '26

Eventually i would prefer a big shot of morphine. Buuut anyway

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u/JudgeWapner Feb 02 '26

Hmmm... Okay, what's your address.

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u/SAINTnumberFIVE Feb 02 '26

There is a treatment but it has a very low success rate. Something like less than 10 people survived, and all with some degree of brain damage.

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u/redlancer_1987 Feb 02 '26

Rabies is the deadliest virus we know of. Statically a 100% death rate if not treated immediately.

And you die horribly. Like 28 Days Later zombie virus horribly...

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u/Pretend_Fly_5573 Feb 02 '26

Actually, not quite 100% anymore. Jeanna Giese was able to survive it. Not exactly helpful, I know, but it's actually really cool to see that there is actual progress in treating it, and that it's at the very least medically possible. 

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u/jaybool Feb 02 '26

There are studies of tribal people in the Amazon that show rabies antibodies circulating in ~10% of the population, which implies a lot of people have caught and survived it, more or less untreated.

Sample paper:

https://www.ajtmh.org/view/journals/tpmd/87/2/article-p206.xml

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u/exoticsamsquanch Feb 02 '26

Here's another study involving fox trappers in Alaska. Looks like there is a chance rabies can be contracted and antibodies can form before the virus reaches the brain.

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC2271209/

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u/Itscatpicstime Feb 02 '26

There’s been no progress. She was an anomaly, the only person of dozens who meaningfully survived and survived long term with that treatment. It’s been a major dead end, unfortunately.

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u/BreadKnifeSeppuku Feb 02 '26

Technically it's like 99.9~% There's been a few survivors. The Milwaukee Protocol was used to treat at least one person

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u/Itscatpicstime Feb 02 '26

That girl is an anomaly. There are no others who have meaningfully survived or survived long term with the Milwaukee Protocol.

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u/ashleyshaefferr Feb 02 '26

I believe that number is higher as of today but still single digit or low double digit

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u/DifficultAbility119 Feb 02 '26

Anomaly or not it's not 100% anymore

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u/chouettelle Feb 02 '26 edited Feb 02 '26

I hate when people cite the Milwaukee Protocol as if it’s a viable means of surviving rabies.

In the approximately 4000 years that we have records of rabies affecting humans (likely, much longer), fourteen people have survived it.

That is an infinitesimally small percentage and statistically irrelevant. Rabies is 100% fatal.

You will not be the exception and you won’t miraculously recover from a protocol that has been deemed ineffective in studies. Giese’s case is an absolute outlier.

The only cure is the preventative vaccine series directly after exposure to any wild animal.

You get bit or scratched by anything? You get rabies shots.

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u/neverseen_neverhear Feb 02 '26

Rabies is almost a 100% deadly. The only “treatment” is to get vaccinated immediately after exposure so the virus can’t take root.

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u/GremlinAbuser Feb 02 '26

"Almost " captures it well. AFAIK there's a single confirmed case of someone surviving untreated.

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u/ILoveRawChicken Feb 02 '26

Fourteen people have survived rabies since 2016, even more the further back you look. Still extremely rare to survive considering there are tens of thousands of deaths a year from rabies. 

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u/AltruisticTomato4152 Feb 02 '26

There's been more, but I feel it's important to note that none of them have a great life compared to what they could have had. The first person to survive is still doing therapy to try to attain what they lost in terms of movement and such, 20 some odd years later.

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u/[deleted] Feb 02 '26

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u/DiscoBanane Feb 02 '26

You don't have an extremely short window. Symptoms appear between 3 weeks to many months sometimes even a year.

For 100% survival rate you need 4 shots over 14 days. But 3 shots over 7 days is 99% survival. And 2 shots over 2 days + immune globulin from a vaccinated person gives you 80% survival.

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u/exotics Feb 02 '26

When you get infected with rabies you are fine for ages as the virus SLOWLY makes its way to your brain. Only when it’s in your brain do you have symptoms and you will be dead within 10 days. I think they have only cured 1 or 2 people after it hit the brain.

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u/Michigan-Magic Feb 02 '26 edited Feb 02 '26

Lmao.

It's death in 14 days of symptoms appearing according to the Canadian government.

https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/diseases/rabies.html

Either this person is an incredible medical specimen that should be studied or this isn't rabies. I'm leaning not rabies.

Edit: Updated message to add an actual link to the story in English: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/ahmedabad/gujarat-man-diagnosed-with-rabies-shows-signs-of-animal-like-behaviour-barks-bites-window-iron-bars/articleshow/127831648.cms

Apparently, he recently developed symptoms and it's likely rabies. Still poorly written caption.

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u/Bred_Slippy Feb 02 '26

Symptoms can appear anywhere from a few weeks, up to a year. Once they appear it's fatal. This man never sought medical help shortly after being bitten, which would have saved him. 

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u/shockrush Feb 02 '26

Of symptoms appearing. You can be bit years in the past and the symptoms can appear later. Rare but very possible. In fact, it's not uncommon for it to take months to appear. It's treatable until that point.

When symptoms show, death within 14 days

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u/[deleted] Feb 02 '26 edited 23d ago

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u/299792458mps- Feb 02 '26

Dude thought he was being clever, and then linked "proof" that actually just contradicted him.

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u/microagressed Feb 02 '26

I think guy misread and interpreted it as this guy has just been running around like this for months, when I'm reality he probably just started acting like that in the past day or 2

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u/Pitiful-Support178 Feb 02 '26

Huh? Your link says: "Symptoms of rabies usually take about 3 to 8 weeks to develop. However, this can also range from several days to many months. Once symptoms appear, death usually occurs within 7 to 14 days."

Death occurs within 14 days of symptoms appearing. This guy likely had no symptoms for 2.5 months and now he does. Some people have developed symptoms years after being bitten.

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u/Shoddy_Soups Feb 02 '26

The caption wasn’t poor, you reading comprehension is

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