What are the prevention methods for rabies in children?

According to surveys, rabies ranks among the causes of accidental death among children and adolescents. From June to September every year, children participate in more outdoor activities and expose more parts of their bodies, so these seasons are the peak seasons for rabies in children. Here we will share some knowledge on how to prevent rabies in children.

First we need to understand what rabies is:

Rabies, also known as mad dog disease, is an acute viral infectious disease that attacks the central nervous system. All warm-blooded animals, including humans, can be infected. After being bitten by a poisonous animal, the disease will develop after an incubation period of about several days to six months, or even more than a year. The current rabies mortality rate is 100%. Prevention is better than cure.

How rabies disease is spread:

Rabies is usually transmitted through bites or scratches from infected animals. It is generally believed that being bitten by a mad dog that spits white foam from its mouth will cause infection. In fact, cats, ferrets, raccoons, skunks, foxes or bats can also become sick and transmit the disease. Sick animals often become very feral, and the virus in their saliva can enter the next patient through the bite wound. "Healthy" dogs infected with rabies virus and some animals bitten by mad dogs do not become ill, have no symptoms, and do not die. Only large amounts of rabies virus are present in their saliva. After biting a person, the person will die of rabies, but the "healthy" animal still exists. This is the most dangerous source of infection and should be taken seriously.

Secondly, what to do after being bitten by a dog or cat:

Because rabies is a serious disease, once it occurs, the mortality rate is extremely high. Therefore: After a person is bitten by a dog or cat, no matter whether it is a mad dog or cat, it is necessary to treat the wound immediately, squeeze out the blood from the wound, and allow the blood containing the virus to flow out; wash the wound repeatedly with soapy water or clean water for at least 15 minutes. The sooner the wound is treated, the better. Delayed treatment will be ineffective or completely ineffective.

If people have close contact with dogs, they should be vaccinated against rabies even if there are no obvious bites or scratches. Those with minor bites should be vaccinated once on the same day, 3rd day, 7th day, 14th day, and 28th day. Those with severe bites must be promptly injected with human rabies immunoglobulin and receive the full course of vaccination (five injections).

In addition to medical protection, we also hope that parents can strengthen the care of their children at home during the peak season of rabies among children, and properly understand emergency medical knowledge to reduce accidental injuries to children. Children have a relatively poor sense of self-protection and mainly rely on their parents for protection. In order to prevent being bitten by small animals such as dogs and cats, it is still necessary to pay attention to some knowledge about the prevention of rabies in children.