Does rabies cause a fear of water? Fear of water (hydrophobia) is one of the symptoms of rabies due to the sufferer’s inability to swallow.
Rabies is an infectious disease caused by the rabies virus that attacks parts of the central nervous system. Apparently, this virus is found in the saliva of animals that have been infected and spread through bites or scratches that enter the human body. Animals that are often caught by this virus include dogs, wolves, cats, foxes, bats and monkeys. One of rabies neurological symptoms is the sufferers will experience a fear of water or known as hydrophobia. Does rabies cause a fear of water? Why does rabies cause a fear of water?
What is rabies?
Rabies is an infectious disease which attacks the central nervous system caused by rabies virus. Rabies is still a threat in Bali Humans will be infected by rabies if the animals’ bitten is infected by the virus.
Generally, rabies virus is found in wild animals. Some wild animals that spread the virus are skunks, raccoons, bats and foxes. In some countries, there are still many pets that carry the virus, including cats and dogs.
If humans are infected by this disease, they’ll start experiencing various symptoms, there may have been damage to the central nervous system and brain. This condition can be fatal, sometimes even lead to death.
Therefore, to prevent the spread of this disease, rabies vaccine should be injected for humans and their pets. You can get rabies vaccine for humans at Medi-Call by contacting them at Medi-Call hotline. In addition, if you are bitten by an animal potentially infected with the virus, consult a doctor immediately through Medi-Call application before any symptoms appear.
What are the signs of rabies in humans? Does Rabies cause a fear of water?
The initial symptoms of rabies resemble flu symptoms for several days. However, the symptoms potentially develop into severe. Signs of rabies in humans that need to be known include:
- Fever
- Headache
- Nausea
- Vomiting
- Anxious and uncomfortable
- Excessive anxiety
- Confused
- Hyperactive
- Difficult to swallow
- Produce lots of saliva
- Hallucinations
- Insomnia
- Partial paralysis of the limbs
There is one thing that people with rabies experienced; hydrophobia. Hydrophobia is the ability to fear water. Does rabies cause a fear of water? Why is it so?
Why does rabies cause a fear of water?
Some people wonder does rabies cause a fear of water (hydrophobia)? If it does, then why does rabies cause a fear of water?
Rabies is known as hydrophobia because it makes people with rabies fear of water. The fear of water experienced by people with rabies is technically better known as hydrophobia, where ‘hydro’ means water and ‘phobia’ means fear.
Why does rabies cause a fear of water?
So, the most famous disease affecting humans caused by this virus, known as rabies, which is a disease caused by the rabies virus that will cause several symptoms such as insomnia, hallucinations, fear of water and certain deaths. As a matter of fact, this deadly virus makes a few cases in all of the history of a person fighting the rabies virus after neurological changes related to start.
When people are affected by neurological signs of rabies, they will experience:
- Difficulty swallowing
- Muscle spasms in the throat
This is because the intense spasms in throat are triggered. Therefore, as humans, people need to swallow to drink water, people with rabies start to fear water because the sight of it can lead to even more painful spasms.
For that matter, sufferers avoid water because they won’t experience intense spasms. The excess saliva may occur due to the effects of the virus on the nervous system. If rabies sufferers have the ability to swallow saliva easily, it has the potential to reduce the risk of spreading the virus to a new host. That’s the reason why does rabies cause a fear of water.
What are the treatments of rabies?
When people have been infected with a virus, it is difficult to get effective treatment. This disease is generally fatal and difficult to overcome, even though there are some who still survives.
However, if you see a doctor immediately before the symptoms appear, your chances to survive will be bigger.
If you have been bitten or scratched by animals at risk of carrying the virus, do the following steps:
- Clean the wound with water and soap for several minutes
- Cover the wound with a bandage
- Go to the nearest hospital, medical service center, or general practitioner
If you are bitten by an animal that has the potential to carry the virus, it is recommended to get rabies vaccine (immunoglobulin) at Medi-Call to prevent infection by rabies. It is useful to prevent rapid infections, especially if you experience bites or open sores from animals infected with rabies. Rabies vaccine helps the body to recognize and fight infections. The vaccine is given 4 times for 1 month if you have no previous vaccine history, and 2 times if you have been vaccinated earlier. You can book a doctor to get this rabies prevention or treatment through Medi-Call application on your smartphone or simply you can contact Medi-Call hotline.