Well that isn't good at all. Rabies has a 100% mortality rate if left untreated. Are they giving him the Milwaukee protocol? That's the only way to survive rabies - being put in a chemically induced coma and receiving antiviral drugs. Even then only a handful of people have survived, the first being Jeanna Giese, a 15 year-old high-school student that sustained a small bite after picking up a bat off of a church's floor. Her family decided to treat the wound with some peroxide, instead of taking her to the doctor. She received neurological symptoms 37 days later, which included a 102°F fever, slurred speech, double vision, and a jerking in her left arm.
Jeanna was put into a medically-induced coma following the discovery of her rabies infection, to protect her from her own brain.
Medical history has shown that most deaths caused by rabies are caused by temporary brain dysfunction, not damage to the brain itself. The Hospital's team devised an experimental treatment for raibes, and the Giese family agreed to try it on her daughter. Giese was given a mixture of ketamine and midazolam to suppress brain activity, and the antiviral ribavirin and amantadine, while waiting for her immune system to produce antibodies to attack the virus. Giese was brought out of the coma after six days, once signs of the immune system's progress became apparent.
After 31 days in the hospital, Giese was declared virus-free and removed from isolation. The extent of brain damage she had suffered was of initial concern, but while she had suffered some, the disease (and treatment) seemed to have left her cognitive abilities largely intact. She spent several weeks undergoing rehabilitation therapy and was discharged on January 1, 2005. By early 2005, she was able to walk on her own, had returned to school, and started driver's education, indicating a successful recovery.
Here are some fun facts -
- The symptoms of rabies don't usually show up for 2-12 weeks, with one particular documented case not showing symptoms for 6 years
- The majority of deaths occur in Asia and Africa. India has the highest death rate, mostly transmitted through stray dogs
- Rabies victims who have received the disease through dog bites are sometimes hindered by PPS, or Puppy Pregnancy Syndrome, in which the infected human is convinced they have a puppy growing inside them.
- Bats, raccoons, skunks and foxes make up for 98% of rabies infected animals.
The first symptoms of rabies may be very similar to the flu and may last for days. Signs and symptoms may include:
- Fever
- Headache
- Nausea
- Vomiting
- Agitation
- Anxiety
- Confusion
- Hyperactivity
- Difficulty swallowing
- Excessive salivation
- Sudden extreme hydrophobia (fear of water)
- Hallucinations
- Insomnia
- Paralysis
- Death
edit - It appears I've misread. How did the entire coaching staff manage to get rabies?
