Clinical manifestations of rabies in children

Rabies is a particularly common infectious disease in our daily lives. Many people have heard of this disease. It is a disease caused by being bitten by a dog infected with the virus. So childhood rabies is rabies that children are infected with after being bitten by a dog. Do we know what symptoms children will show after being infected? Let’s take a look at the clinical manifestations of childhood rabies for your reference.

The incubation period varies in length, ranging from 4 days to 19 years, with the vast majority being within 1 year. Factors affecting the incubation period include age (shorter in children), wound site (early onset in the head and face), wound nature (deep bites have shorter incubation periods), and the number of invading viruses, virulence, and host defense mechanisms. The typical clinical course can be divided into three stages.

1. Prodromal stage

1 to 4 days, often with low fever, headache, fatigue, sore throat, abdominal pain, irritability, etc., followed by sensitivity to strong light, loud noises and other stimuli and a sense of tightness in the throat. When eating, the throat muscles have mild spasms, but the child can still swallow. About 80% of the children have radiating pain, numbness, itching and abnormal sensation in the wound area and its nerve pathways.

2. Excitement

Reflex laryngeal spasm gradually worsens. Whenever drinking water, even hearing people talking about water, seeing water or swallowing water, or stimulation by wind, light, sound or smoke will cause severe spasm of the throat and typical hydrophobia. It is often accompanied by respiratory muscle spasm and breathing difficulties. The whole body has high muscle tension and stiff neck. Mania and drowsiness often alternate. The patient is abnormally irritable during attacks. The patient is relatively quiet during the intervals between attacks and the speech is clear. Due to the hyperactivity of the sympathetic nerves, there are symptoms such as sweating, increased heart rate, increased blood pressure, dilated pupils, and increased saliva secretion. The child may have a high fever of 39-40℃ and is mostly conscious. Some children have mental disorders and may die of respiratory or circulatory failure during an attack. This period lasts about 1-3 days.

3. Paralysis

The convulsions decrease or stop, the child becomes quieter, and gradually develops systemic flaccid paralysis, especially limb flaccidity. The child is accompanied by decreased sensation, disappearance of reflexes, slow and irregular breathing, weak heartbeat, decreased blood pressure, and confusion, and eventually dies of respiratory paralysis and circulatory failure. This stage lasts about 6 to 18 hours.

The entire course of rabies is 3 to 5 days, rarely exceeding 10 days. "Paralytic" cases are extremely rare. The latter are mainly characterized by high fever and progressive paralysis, eventually leading to exhaustion and death. The entire course of the disease is about 8 to 9 days.

Nowadays, many families keep pets, which not only enriches their lives, but also allows these animals to bring us happiness. So, while keeping pets, have you given them vaccines and other anti-infection drugs? Don't forget these symptoms of rabies in children, which can be useful to everyone. And you must take good precautions with your pets.