New schedule/rabies

This morning Selvi and I had a date to spend some quality time together at 7 AM. The quality time included 1-pound weights, a floor mat, and an elderly man walking on a treadmill with a cane. While we worked out, a segment on the Today Show grabbed our attention. A teenage girl was described as a “medical marvel” for surviving rabies without getting the vaccine. Rabies is supposed to be fatal in humans if you don’t get a shot within a few weeks of contracting the disease. However instead of being amazed by this girl’s genetic superiority, Selvi and I started shouting at the TV. What kind of person gets bitten by a BAT, does not seek medical attention for a MONTH, and then milks the publicity of emerging from a rabies-induced coma? Does her medical insurance cover something like that? And her case is written up in The New England Journal of Medicine! And she wants to be a veterinarian when she grows up! What if she has children someday? “It’s probably fine that you just swallowed a gallon of paint thinner, Jimmy Junior. Let’s just wait this one out and observe if there are any side effects in a month. Better safe than sorry.”

5 Thoughts on “New schedule/rabies

  1. No, no, no, you have it wrong (as usual). Rabies Girl wants to be a zoologist Her sights are set on much more exotic infectious agents, such as the ebola virus, small pox or possibly anthrax.

  2. I feel like there should just be an area for me to just talk on your blog. I mean of course I feel that way, but I’ll settle for the comment boxes for now ´until you make me a corner or something.

  3. I think you should definitely have your own section on my blog – a “Noelle’s Corner” or perhaps a “Noelle’s Niche” like that Christmas supply store on Route 29.

  4. Only a half dozen people are known to have survived active rabies infection, and this girl’s case is the only one in medical history of survival where prophylaxis (“vaccination”) was not administered prior to exposure to the virus, or in the time (prodromal period) between exposure and onset of acute symptoms. Therefore, this is most definitely a newsworthy story both from a scientific and a human interest point of view.

    It is unlikely the girl survived due to genetic superiority. Instead, it is assumed credit goes to the aggressive treatment protocol administered by her doctors. This included, notably, a seven day drug-induced coma that essentially turned off her brain, protecting it from damage while the girl’s body built up immunity and slowly cleared the virus.

    To complain that the girl is “milking” this story for publicity seems crass given how narrowly she escaped death. The fact that she survived is both extraordinary and gives hope that a practical treatment might be developed for this horrifying disease.

  5. Hi Fred,

    Thanks for your comment. Evidently these people in Venezuela recently bitten by vampire bats also want to be famous.

    I promise you I have the utmost respect for the medical profession. My father and brother are both doctors and some of my favorite authors “moonlight” as doctors. I was only joking around in my post, and I’m sorry you took offense.

    WM

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