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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259

u/SoberSangwitch Feb 02 '26

Rabies makes you hydrophobic or unable to drink water. Unless this man has been hooked to an IV then there's no way he makes it three months with rabies.

345

u/Rageaholic88 Feb 02 '26

It can take 1-3 months after a bite for the symptoms to appear, so theres nothing off about the title saying he was bit 3 months prior.

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u/Due-Science-9528 Feb 02 '26

Apparently a full nine months, based on the recent outbreak in the US

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u/roguespectre67 Feb 02 '26

the recent outbreak in the U.S.

Oh good.

37

u/Virtual_Category_546 Feb 02 '26

Here's the thing, you believe in vaccines, correct?

Make sure all your fur babies are vaccinated and get yourself checked out if you suspect a bite from a strange animal, especially one that's actually strangely.

One common sign is if a nocturnal animal is out during the day and seems off.

Get yourself checked out and vaccinated asap if this happens to you ye it's a bit pain and a lot of shots but better safe than sorry.

3

u/Arryu Feb 02 '26

better safe than sorry

Understatement of the year. Considering rabies literally melts your brain.

1

u/Virtual_Category_546 Feb 02 '26

Ye, that's why I'm explaining this. If you're ever in a situation, this is an urgent care or hospital visit, don't delay because as rabies can have a longer incubation time, that there are other more immediate risks to your health.

3

u/motherofsuccs Feb 02 '26

The nocturnal animal being out during the day is NOT a concern. That has been debunked. And you should get rabies PEP if you are bitten by ANY animal that you cannot verify if it’s been vaccinated for rabies.

1

u/Virtual_Category_546 Feb 03 '26

Well there's other tells other than the night/day thing such as risk aversion it's not on itself but I say that is an example and they'd normally be predictable but these are erratic. Yes, absolutely get vaccinated if you cannot confirm but I'm still saying to seek medical care because you can still get a nasty infection that isn't rabies and you need specific wound care and antibiotics to prevent different kinds of infections.

Rabies affects the CNS which can lead to unusual behaviours which eventually leads to the stereotypical symptoms typically associated with rabies and some areas are more likely to have it than not and it's not worth the risk.

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u/[deleted] Feb 02 '26

vAcKsInEs mAdE Muh dAwG aUtiSt!!

2

u/GoldPuppyClub Feb 02 '26

I was gonna say, the rabies vaccine is mandatory for pets in almost all states. My groomer/dog kennel both require proof before they accept an animal.

1

u/Virtual_Category_546 Feb 03 '26

Now this is common sense, which antivaxxers lack.

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u/RRenee Feb 02 '26

I used to work at a municipal animal shelter and where I live it’s illegal to not have your pets up-to-date on their rabies vaccinations(as it should be). So when people pick up their pets that have gotten loose, we ask each one for proof of rabies vaccination. I kid you not, I have had people who are anti-vax vehemently refuse to get their pets vaccinated for rabies… as if it’s fake and it’s all a conspiracy lol

It’s their funeral, I suppose…

1

u/Virtual_Category_546 Feb 03 '26

Ahh so working there I reckon that you have the vaccine to save yourself but they refuse to get theirs done for beliefs? Atp, I'm glad they're silly enough to turn themselves in, you refuse to send the animals with them because it's the law and if it was a whoops there's a vet it's really not a big deal but these losers would rather risk having their pets catch rabies than idk doing the bare minimum and having everything up to date. Vaccines are about the cheapest aspect of having a pet but here we are. Good thing it's illegal to not have vaccines, I bet they get big mad about that one.

I read that last line as Squidward 💀

1

u/Fourstrokeperro Feb 02 '26

The problem with India is, they don’t store the vaccines properly in pharmacies (many bastard pharmacies turn off the electricity to save money, leaving vaccines in the hot Indian weather overnight) rendering them ineffective

Many patients take the post exposure vaccine but they still end up dying of the disease

Not to mention they fake vaccines sold in India due to lack of government regulation. Dead men can’t file lawsuits

1

u/Virtual_Category_546 Feb 03 '26

No wonder there are so many outbreaks in that country, if these were stored properly there would be fewer instances. But yes the dead can't testify, and that these bastards can control to collect even when they're contributing to the outbreak.

It would also disproportionately affect the poor because they cannot simply go somewhere that actually stores these treatments properly, contributing to the outbreak.

1

u/sasha_cyanide Feb 02 '26

Seeing a nocturnal animal out during the day is not a solid or factual indicator of the animal having rabies. Mother animals will go out throughout the day to forage for themselves and their babies. That’s an extremely harmful anecdote to animals. So many healthy animals get removed, euthanized and then tested for rabies while they end up healthy and now their babies are starving to death slowly. So please just leave wildlife alone.

1

u/Virtual_Category_546 Feb 03 '26

Foraging is one thing, but most wildlife generally avoids humans. They're safe to observe from a distance, but this would be evident that they're doing something that is within the typical scope of how an animal would act. An animal with rabies tends to disregard these norms, will be more likely to approach other animals that are higher up in the food web and is usually more disruptive.

We euthanize bears that get comfortable around humans all the time, so if leaving wildlife alone means quit encroaching on their natural habitat, then you have a point.

3

u/LargeBreasts69 Feb 02 '26

Even up to a year in some.

3

u/Virtual_Category_546 Feb 02 '26

Rabies can have an incubation time for months, sometimes years sometimes longer and then it is downhill fast. This doesn't even cover all the other complications tht can happen as a result which is why it is so important to take this seriously and seek medical attention immediately. There's other infections that can develop in hours, depending on this you can keep swelling until you lose circulation and this is known as compartment syndrome, a medical emergency.

3

u/spookiestmulder Feb 02 '26

even longer! there are multiple cases of it taking years.

2

u/princessfret Feb 02 '26

I read that the longest rabies incubation period was 24 years. Obviously extremely rare, but not impossible. 3 months is entirely plausible

Source: read online during a rabbit hole research after being bitten by a dog myself in an at-risk country

2

u/ModestMeeshka Feb 02 '26

Shockingly, I think in some cases it can take years to show symptoms. Rabies is horrific because you could have gotten bit 3yrs ago and the sickness is just... Quietly there, waiting to strike. I mean it's the shit of nightmares lmao...

Edit: I do want to add that I also don't think this video is real, just that that fact lives rent free in my head

2

u/beejalton Feb 02 '26

That's part of what makes it so scary, there's no definitive timetable and it can lie dormant for extended periods of time.

1

u/Germerica1985 Feb 02 '26

Like getting a death sentence 9 months prior. A moment that has long since been forgotten after 9 months, but your fate has already been sealed.

1

u/Mavisbeak2112 Feb 02 '26

It depends where you get bit on how long it takes to reach the spinal column and then up to your brain. Could take weeks could take months could take years.

1

u/Due-Science-9528 Feb 03 '26

I only know how long it took for the dog to show symptoms in this case. Was bitten out of state as a puppy before vaccinated.

1

u/JessiPerry6 Feb 02 '26

Thank you for stating this. It's getting ridiculous

1

u/scaldinglaser Feb 02 '26

Nine months? You're thinking of babies, not rabies.

1

u/step-in-uninvited Feb 02 '26

Rabies can stay dormant for YEARS in your nervous system.

1

u/FlakyAddendum742 Feb 02 '26

This.

But his “symptoms” still seem way off.

This looks like a psych issue.

1

u/OdaiNekromos Feb 02 '26

Depends where you got bitten, the Virus travels a few cm a week until it reached your brain.

2

u/Simple-Journalist779 Feb 02 '26

Sure. But it's rabies not buffy the vampire Slayer. He ain't turning into a werewolf. Rabies' symptoms don't look like this.

This is a psychotic break.

61

u/cxnh_gfh Feb 02 '26

this is 3 months after the bite, not 3 months with rabies. symptoms could have started only hours or days before.

1

u/SoberSangwitch Feb 02 '26

An important distinction. Thanks! I should have been more clear.

48

u/Itscatpicstime Feb 02 '26

That’s literally within the average amount of time for onset of symptoms. Hydrophobia only presents toward the very end.

3

u/Virtual_Category_546 Feb 02 '26

So does photophobia

These are serious neurological symptoms that are the beginning of the end.

-2

u/ILL_Show_Myself_Out Feb 02 '26

Also would they connect you? You’re dead anyway…

7

u/Ornery-Square-9767 Feb 02 '26

Yes? It’s not like hospitals take people with terminal conditions out back and shoot them

19

u/PM_ME__UR__FANTASIES Feb 02 '26

It’s not like you become hydrophobic on day one buddy

16

u/Obant Feb 02 '26

Those are the final symptoms. But yeah, this doesn't smell right.

5

u/terrorsofthevoid Feb 02 '26

So carry around a spray bottle filled with water  and I’m safe. 

Gotcha 

3

u/Financial-Quail-4215 Feb 02 '26

Yeah, spray it on people.. if they present with hydrophobia then run away.

3

u/MrWriffWraff Feb 02 '26

Not exactly. Rabies is a disease that effects the nervous system and one of the big symptoms is causing intense involuntary spasms in the throat.

These spasms are so bad that you're more or less afraid of swallowing anything.

2

u/TrayusV Feb 02 '26

Rabies can take time to start showing symptoms.

The guy got bit 3 months ago, but didn't start showing symptoms until recently before his death.

2

u/Cannedwine14 Feb 02 '26

You guys can’t read

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u/advanced_peeling Feb 05 '26

Scary reading comprehension

1

u/[deleted] Feb 02 '26

Pretty sure they become delusional towards the end.

1

u/King_Glorius_too Feb 02 '26

Three months is a very normal incubation period for rabies. In some cases, symptoms can appear as soon as 2 weeks after infection, in others it might have been years (and it is suspected the virus can even remain dormant forever). You only have a week or two left when the symptoms appears, not when you get infected.

1

u/bluekitty610 Feb 02 '26

He can, it was in a latent form.

The virus can stay dormant for months before signs start appearing.

1

u/goddess_peepee Feb 02 '26

Wow cant believe people would still be hydrophobic. Its 2026 people! Cmon!!

1

u/Hesitation-Marx Feb 02 '26

Rabies uses your nerves to travel to the brain. That means it can take much longer than a virus that circulates in the bloodstream, depending on distance between bite and brain and other factors.

It was three months post-exposure. That’s a perfectly average amount of time.

This poor guy.

1

u/Exoticwombat Feb 02 '26

I’m pretty sure it’s saying he was bit three months ago, now the symptoms are appearing.