UK - Rabies case: Patient dies in London after being bitten by dog in South Asia

[Pathfinder]

ByBen Rankin
23 May 2012 18:00


Rabies case: Patient treated for potentially fatal disease in London after being bitten by dog in South Asia

...
A patient is being treated for RABIES in London after being bitten by a dog in South Asia.

It's only the fifth time since 2000 that a Briton has contracted the potentially fatal disease from dogs while travelling abroad.

The Health Protection Agency (HPA) said the patient, whose age or gender was not given, was receiving hospital treatment.

The HPA stressed there was no risk to the public.

Dr Brian McCloskey, director of the HPA for London, said: "It is important to stress that there is no risk to the general public as a result of this case or to patients and visitors at the hospital where the patient is receiving treatment.

"Despite there being tens of thousands of rabies cases each year worldwide, there have been no documented laboratory confirmed cases of human-to-human spread.

"Therefore the risk to other humans or animals from a patient with rabies is considered negligible.

"However to take every possible precaution, family members and healthcare staff who had close contact with the patient since they became unwell - which is when they are infectious - have been assessed and offered vaccination if appropriate."
...

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/rabies-patient-hospitalised-in-london-after-845248

 

[Gert van der Hoek]

Re: UK - Rabies case: Patient treated for potentially fatal disease in London after being bitten by dog in South Asia

Re: UK - Rabies case: Patient treated for potentially fatal disease in London after being bitten by dog in South Asia

Patient suffering from rabies left fighting for life in London hospital after being bitten by puppy during visit to India

'Supportive treatment' being given - but disease has 90% mortality rate once symptoms appear

Victim only went to GP seven weeks after being bitten

Doctors are taking all necessary precautions to ensure disease will not be spread

By CHRIS HANLON

PUBLISHED: 19:23 GMT, 23 May 2012 |

A patient suffering from rabies is fighting for their life in a London hospital, it was revealed today.

The unidentified victim, who lives in London, was bitten by a puppy in India nine weeks ago. The animal was not examined and has not been traced.
Doctors confirmed it as a 'case of classical rabies' after the patient became ill on returning to England. The patient is receiving 'supportive treatment'.

University College Hospital, London: Where an unnamed patient is fighting for their life after contracting rabies from a dog bite while in India over seven weeks ago
Relatives and hospital staff treating the patient are being offered immunisation as a precaution.

It is understood the infected patient is in a critical condition in University College Hospital.

The patient only attended their GP last Monday week, more than seven weeks after being bitten, and after two visits to accident and emergency at Darent Valley Hospital in Dartford was admitted to Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Woolwich, last Friday.

The patient was then transferred to University College Hospital and is being nursed in isolation with body fluid precautions.

Saliva and skin biopsies were sent to the Veterinary Laboratories Agency in Weybridge and results confirmed it was rabies.

The patient did not receive any rabies vaccine prior to the attack or after it.

The disease, which is transmitted by saliva through bites, scratches or broken skin, has a very low survival rate after symptoms appear.


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...l-bitten-puppy-visit-India.html#ixzz1vj3gXqps

 

[Giuseppe]

Re: UK - Rabies case: Patient treated for potentially fatal disease in London after being bitten by dog in South Asia

Re: UK - Rabies case: Patient treated for potentially fatal disease in London after being bitten by dog in South Asia

[Source: Health Protection Agency, United Kingdom, full page: (LINK). Edited.]

Confirmed case of rabies in London



23 May 2012

The Health Protection Agency (HPA) has been notified of a confirmed case of rabies in a patient from London who was bitten by a dog in South Asia. The patient is receiving hospital treatment and all relevant contacts have been followed up.

Rabies transmission is usually through saliva from the bite of an infected animal with dogs being the main transmitter of rabies to humans. World-wide it is estimated that the annual number of human rabies deaths to be in excess of 55,000 with most in developing countries, particularly South and South East Asia.

Dr Brian McCloskey, Director of the HPA for London, said:

?It is important to stress that there is no risk to the general public as a result of this case or to patients and visitors at the hospital where the patient is receiving treatment. Despite there being tens of thousands of rabies cases each year worldwide, there have been no documented laboratory confirmed cases of human-to-human spread. Therefore the risk to other humans or animals from a patient with rabies is considered negligible.

?However, to take every possible precaution, family members and healthcare staff who had close contact with the patient since they became unwell - which is when they are infectious - have been assessed and offered vaccination if appropriate.?

Professor David Brown, a rabies expert at the HPA, said:
?Rabies is an acute viral infection which is extremely rare in the United Kingdom; only four cases of human rabies acquired from dogs have been identified since 2000, all of which were acquired from dogs abroad.

"It is essential to get health advice if you are travelling to countries where rabies is common or if you know you will be working with animals. Talk to your doctor or nurse about whether or not a rabies vaccine is appropriate before you travel.

"All travellers to a rabies-endemic country should avoid contact with cats, dogs and other animals wherever possible as you cannot be certain that there is no risk. If you are bitten, scratched, or licked by a warm blooded animal you must take immediate action and wash the wound or site of exposure (e.g. mucous membrane) with plenty of soap and water. Seek medical advice without delay even if you have been previously vaccinated.

?Rabies vaccine is extremely effective at preventing rabies if you are bitten even when this is given some time after an exposure. If you do not seek medical treatment while abroad, you should still seek it when you come home.?


ENDS

1. Rabies affects the central nervous system and initial symptoms can include anxiety, headaches and fever; later the effects on the central nervous system intensify. There are spasms of the swallowing muscles making it difficult or impossible for patients to drink (hydrophobia), and respiratory failure sets in.
2. The incubation period for rabies is generally two to eight weeks but is very variable. On some occasions incubation periods have been several months or more.
3. Although there are no documented laboratory confirmed cases of human-to-human transmission of rabies, people who have been exposed closely to the secretions of a patient with rabies will sometimes be offered immunisation purely as a precautionary measure.
4. In 2003 it was recognised that UK bats may carry a rabies-like virus, European Bat Lyssavirus 2 (EBLV2). A bat handler died from EBLV2 infection probably acquired in Scotland.
5. Although rabies vaccine is not routinely advised for all travellers, immunisation before travel is recommended for those:
   ? working abroad (eg veterinary staff or zoologists) who by the nature of their work are at risk of contact with rabid animals.
   ? living in or travelling for more than one month to rabies-enzootic areas unless there is reliable access to prompt, safe medical care.
   ? travelling for less than one month to enzootic areas but who may be exposed to rabies because of their travel activities.
   ? who would have limited access to post-exposure medical care.
6. Further information: www.hpa.org.uk/Topics/InfectiousDiseases/InfectionsAZ/Rabies/

Media enquiries:
tycie.west@hpa.org.uk
Tel: 020 7811 7243
Out of hours: 020 8200 4400 (ask for duty press officer)

Last reviewed: 23 May 2012
​

- ------

 

[mixin]

Re: UK - Rabies case: Patient treated for potentially fatal disease in London after being bitten by dog in South Asia

Re: UK - Rabies case: Patient treated for potentially fatal disease in London after being bitten by dog in South Asia

- but disease has 90% mortality rate once symptoms appear

Is this true? I've always read that mortality was almost 100% after symptoms appeared.

Jeanna Giese survived using the Milwaukee protocol; here's an interesting older story about her: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=jeanna-giese-rabies-survivor

Mentioned in the article is Nelsy Gomez; she survived the rabies infection but was reported to have died from pneumonia a month later. http://www.indianpediatrics.net/jan2009/jan-85.htm

This article also mentions a 3rd survivor but I didn't find any further info on him:

The third success for the protocol is from Brazil. Fifteen year old Menezes, developed rabies after a bite from a rabid bat though he did receive 4 doses of antirabies vaccine. He received the medically induced coma for 2 weeks and is now slowly being weaned off the ventilator.

Do we have other known survivors?

 

[alert]

Re: UK - Rabies case: Patient treated for potentially fatal disease in London after being bitten by dog in South Asia

Re: UK - Rabies case: Patient treated for potentially fatal disease in London after being bitten by dog in South Asia

I believe 90% is a serious underestimate of the true CFR of rabies at this point. I think there have been a handful of survivors due to the Milwaukee protocol (less than 10, I believe). Another one of them, from California is:

http://www.flutrackers.com/forum/showthread.php?p=412127

There were also about 4-5 previous random survivors in the 50 years or so before the Milwaukee case whose survival seems to be the result of pure luck.

There is also at least one probable case of abortive rabies:

http://www.flutrackers.com/forum/showthread.php?p=448855

that survived without treatment.

As the number of rabies fatalites annually has been estimated at over 50,000 worldwide:

http://www.flutrackers.com/forum/showthread.php?t=176955

the true CFR for rabies infection after symptoms start (not to be cofnused with the CFR for being bitten by a rabid animal; prompt vaccination saves lives) is likely well over 99.99%. The survival of the current case would be a true miracle.

 

[alert]

Re: UK - Rabies case: Patient treated for potentially fatal disease in London after being bitten by dog in South Asia

Re: UK - Rabies case: Patient treated for potentially fatal disease in London after being bitten by dog in South Asia

http://www.promedmail.org/index.html

Published Date: 2012-05-24 17:08:54
Subject: PRO/AH/EDR> Rabies - UK (02): (London, England) ex India, human, canine
Archive Number: 20120524.1143694

RABIES - UK (02): (LONDON, ENGLAND) ex INDIA, HUMAN, CANINE
***********************************************************
A ProMED-mail post
http://www.promedmail.org
ProMED-mail is a program of the
International Society for Infectious Diseases
http://www.isid.org

In this update:[1] Patient details[2] Delayed diagnosis[3] Background information******[1] Patient detailsDate: Thu 24 May 2012
Source: Irish Examiner [abbreviated & edited]
http://www.irishexaminer.com/breakingnews/world/uk-grandmother-catches-rabies-from-dog-552672.html


A case of rabies has been confirmed in the UK, the Health Protection Agency (HPA) said. The potentially fatal disease was confirmed in a patient from London who had been bitten by a dog in south Asia. It was reported last night that the patient was a grandmother in her 50s. The patient is receiving hospital treatment, and all relevant contacts have been followed up on, the HPA said, stressing there was no risk to the public.

The patient is being treated at London's Hospital for Tropical Diseases. A spokeswoman said: "We would like to reassure our patients, visitors and staff there is no risk to them as a result of this case." The Sun reported that the woman was of Indian origin and was in India with her husband when she was bitten by a puppy. As a matter of routine, if the woman had any pets at home, tests would have been carried out on them to check that the virus had not been passed on, a spokesman from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said.

--
Communicated by:
ProMED-mail from HealthMap alerts
<promed@promedmal.org>

******
[2] Delayed diagnosis
Date: Thu 24 may 2012
Source: Fox News [edited]
http://www.foxnews.com/health/2012/05/24/woman-life-at-risk-after-doctors-fail-to-spot-has-rabies/


A British woman's life is at risk after she contracted rabies from a puppy overseas and was misdiagnosed by doctors at home 3 times. Rabies was eradicated from the UK over a century ago, but the patient is fighting for life in hospital isolation almost 2 months after being bitten in India.

Understood to be in her 50s, the woman is said to have visited her doctor once and a hospital's accident and emergency department twice over 4 days feeling ill but was sent home each time, The Sun [newspaper] reported. Sources said she returned to her doctor once more, when she was forwarded to the hospital with a suspected case of rabies and then properly diagnosed.

The Hospital for Tropical Diseases based at University College Hospital in London confirmed the case, affirming patients, staff and visitors were not at risk, although it is understood that relatives and hospital staff have been offered precautionary vaccines, The (London) Daily Telegraph reported.

Possibly life-threatening, rabies is an acute virus disease of the nervous system. Symptoms include abnormal behavior plus increased salivation, then paralysis and death if it goes untreated. It is prevalent in south and southeast Asian countries and is transmitted by saliva, usually through the bite of an animal.

The British Health Protection Authority (HPA) says only 4 people in the UK have contracted the disease since 2009, compared to the 55 000 who die from it globally each year. The HPA has attempted to quell panic by pointing out that there have been no documented laboratory confirmed cases of rabies spreading from human-to-human. "Therefore, the risk to other humans or animals from a patient with rabies is considered negligible," Brian McCloskey, director of the HPA for London, said.

--
Communicated by:
ProMED-mail [edited]


Background information on rabies virus infection imported into the UK and exported from India
-----------------------------
Regarding the recent report of human rabies imported into the United Kingdom from India, the following will summarize relevant cases reported during the past 25 years: [1,2] 62 cases of travel-related rabies were reported during 1987 to 2012, of which 7 were imported into the United Kingdom, and 10 followed animal contact in India. [3] (The Primary references are available on request).

Cases imported into the United Kingdom:
-----------------------------
Year / Origin
1987 / India
1996 / Nigeria (20)
2001 / Philippines
2001 / Nigeria (20)
2005 / India (20)
2008 / South Africa
2012 / India

Cases exported from India:
----------------------
Year / Country
1987 / United Kingdom
1997 / France*
2004 / Germany
2004 / Germany
2005 / United Kingdom
2007 / Lithuania
2009 / United Arab Emirates
2009 / United States
2012 / Italy
2012 / United Kingdom

*Infection was acquired in either India or Nepal

References:
---------
1. Berger SA. Infectious Diseases of India, 2012. 503 pp, 67 graphs, 4248 references. Gideon e-books, http://www.gideononline.com/ebooks/country/infectious-diseases-of-india/.

2. Berger SA. Infectious Diseases of the United Kingdom, 2012. 1029 pp, 797 graphs, 3290 references. Gideon e-books,
http://www.gideononline.com/ebooks/country/infectious-diseases-of-the-united-kingdom/.

3. Berger SA. Rabies: Global Status, 2012. 376 pp, 546 graphs, 1375 references. Gideon e-books,
http://www.gideononline.com/ebooks/disease/rabies-global-status/.

--
Steve Berger
Geographic Medicine
Tel Aviv Medical Center
Israel


[These new reports identify the patient and her nationality but do not indicate whether or when she received any form of anti-rabies prophylactic treatment after being bitten by a puppy in India some 9 weeks ago. The initially delayed diagnosis in the UK is hardly relevant if the victim had received no treatment in India immediately following her exposure. Her prospects for survival are not good.

ProMED-mail thanks Steve Berger for extracting relevant background information from the Gideon Database. Interested readers can obtain the primary references from him on request. - Mod.CP

A HealthMap/ProMED-mail map can be accessed at: http://healthmap.org/r/1pSH.]

 

[Gert van der Hoek]

Re: UK - Rabies case: Patient treated for potentially fatal disease in London after being bitten by dog in South Asia

Re: UK - Rabies case: Patient treated for potentially fatal disease in London after being bitten by dog in South Asia

SECOND BRITON IS TESTED FOR RABIES

Friday May 25,2012

A possible new British case of rabies is being investigated, disease control experts have confirmed.

The Health Protection Agency said a second person was being tested for the disease, two days after it confirmed a case of the potentially fatal illness in a patient who had been bitten by a dog in South Asia.

The woman, believed to be a grandmother in her 50s, was reportedly turned away twice by doctors at Darent Valley Hospital in Dartford, Kent, before she was finally diagnosed. The hospital has launched an investigation.

The HPA was unable to release details of who the new person being tested was, or where they were from.

"There is another person being looked at," a spokeswoman said. "There are eight people this year who have been through this process."

Express

 

[Giuseppe]

Re: UK - Rabies case: Patient treated for potentially fatal disease in London after being bitten by dog in South Asia

Re: UK - Rabies case: Patient treated for potentially fatal disease in London after being bitten by dog in South Asia

Since in the British press is emerging a sort of panic around these human rabies cases, I think it is time to precise that rabies is not transmissible among humans because the virus needs to be inoculated via saliva or liquor (the cerebrospinal fluid) and it does not transmit through casual contacts or airborne droplets, urine, faeces.

Human-to-human transmission of rabies is a rare occurrence and very few instances are documented even in endemic regions, where there are hundreds of cases of rabid animals that - through bitten or scratches - infect people yearly.

People with very close contacts with saliva or liquor from a rabid individual should seek immediate medical attention in order to establish the proper prophylaxys and vaccination.

Vaccination and passive immunotherapy are usually offered to health care professionals entered in contact with patients.

For more detailed information about routes of infections of the rabies virus readers can access to the US CDC rabies page: http://www.cdc.gov/rabies/

(IOH)

 

[alert]

Re: UK - Rabies case: Patient treated for potentially fatal disease in London after being bitten by dog in South Asia

Re: UK - Rabies case: Patient treated for potentially fatal disease in London after being bitten by dog in South Asia

Here's more on the second case:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...ts-life-intensive-care.html?ito=feeds-newsxml

Doctors await test results on SECOND suspected rabies case as grandmother fights for life in intensive care
Male patient from Leeds being tested after seeking medical help
He had been bitten by animal while abroad and is awaiting test results Woman in her 50s was bitten by a puppy while on holiday in India. She is said to be unlikely to survive

Hospital admits turning woman away, claiming she didn't tell doctors she had been bitten
Her pet cat was screened, but cleared of infection

She is only the fourth case of rabies in Britain in the last twelve years

By Sophie Borland and Eleanor Harding
PUBLISHED: 19:23 GMT, 23 May 2012 | UPDATED: 06:30 GMT, 25 May 2012
Comments ()
A second possible new British case of rabies is being investigated after a man sought hospital treatment for a dog bite he received on holiday, experts confirmed today.
The Health Protection Agency said a second person was being tested for the disease, two days after it confirmed a case of the potentially fatal illness in a 50-year-old woman who had been bitten by a dog in South Asia.

[snip]

--------

Although:

http://www.kentnews.co.uk/news/second_rabies_case_after_kent_woman_fights_for_life_1_1388896

Second rabies case after Kent woman fights for life
Friday, May 25, 2012
10:42 AM



New case follows woman turned away from Darent Hospital earlier this week

A possible second case of rabies is being investigated after it was revealed an Indian gran was turned away from a Kent hospital twice because the condition was not recognised.

Tests are being carried out on the second case, also a woman, in Leeds.

A spokesman for the Health Protection Agency said: “There is no connection with the case in Kent, but we are concerned.”

It’s understood the woman was bitten by a rabid dog during a trip to Pakistan recently.

[snip]

---------

[It appears that the second case was an adult bitten by a dog in Pakistan (whereas the first was exposed in India), although the gender of the second case is in doubt. - alert]

 

[Giuseppe]

Re: UK - Rabies case: Patient treated for potentially fatal disease in London after being bitten by dog in South Asia

Re: UK - Rabies case: Patient treated for potentially fatal disease in London after being bitten by dog in South Asia

Source: Telegraph, http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/9296113/Rabies-case-British-woman-dies-in-hospital.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

May 28 2012

Rabies case: British woman dies in hospital

A British woman bitten by a puppy with rabies on a visit to India has died in a London hospital.

(...)

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------

 

[alert]

Re: UK - Rabies case: Patient treated for potentially fatal disease in London after being bitten by dog in South Asia

Re: UK - Rabies case: Patient treated for potentially fatal disease in London after being bitten by dog in South Asia

I believe 90% is a serious underestimate of the true CFR of rabies at this point. I think there have been a handful of survivors due to the Milwaukee protocol (less than 10, I believe). Another one of them, from California is:

http://www.flutrackers.com/forum/showthread.php?p=412127

An unrelated rabies case in South Africa today has generated the following ProMED post:

http://www.flutrackers.com/forum/showthread.php?p=455293#post455293

in which the total number of global rabies survivors due to the Milwaukee protocol is reported as 6.

 

[alert]

Re: UK - Rabies case: Patient dies in London after being bitten by dog in South Asia

http://www.promedmail.org/

Published Date: 2012-05-29 09:36:49
Subject: PRO/AH/EDR> Rabies - UK (03): (London, England) ex India, fatal outcome
Archive Number: 20120529.1148757

RABIES - UK (03): (LONDON, ENGLAND) ex INDIA, FATAL OUTCOME
***********************************************************
A ProMED-mail post
http://www.promedmail.org
ProMED-mail is a program of the
International Society for Infectious Diseases
http://www.isid.org

Date: Mon 28 May 2012
Source: BBC News England [edited]
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-18244429


A woman who was being treated in London for rabies has died. The woman -- whose identity has not been revealed -- was bitten by a dog in South Asia [India] and died over the weekend [26-27 May 2012]. She was being treated at London's Hospital for Tropical Diseases after twice attending A&E at Darent Valley Hospital in Dartford. Meanwhile, it has emerged a patient in Leeds has sought medical help for a dog bite which occurred abroad. The 2 cases are not being linked.

Rabies can be transferred from the bite of an infected animal, with dogs being the most common transmitter to humans. A statement from University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust said: "We regret to announce that a patient being treated for rabies by the Hospital for Tropical Diseases and colleagues at University College Hospital died over the weekend." Meanwhile, an investigation has been launched into how the woman was turned away from the emergency department at Darent Valley Hospital in Dartford. A spokesman for the hospital previously said that as the UK is rabies-free, if a patient went to a hospital with vague symptoms, a doctor was unlikely to consider rabies as a diagnosis unless the patient highlighted wild animal contact in an at-risk country. "The hospital responded to the information supplied by the patient at the time," he said.

On Friday [25 May 2012] it was announced that a patient in Leeds had sought treatment for a possible case of rabies after being bitten by a dog while abroad. The Health Protection Agency said there were "no links" between the 2 cases.

More than 55 000 people are estimated to die from the disease every year, with most cases occurring in developing countries, particularly South and South-East Asia. The hospital previously reassured patients, visitors, and staff there was no risk to them as a result of the case.

--
Communicated by:
ProMED-mail
<promed@promedmail.org>

[The presumed absence of post-exposure treatment after exposure in India, coupled with the late diagnosis in the England, made the fatal outcome in this case inevitable.

The status of the suspected rabies case in Leeds is unclear. No information has been released concerning the date and place of possible exposure, whether prompt post-exposure treatment was available at the time of exposure, or whether the diagnosis has been confirmed by laboratory analysis. Further information is awaited. - Mod.CP

A HealthMap/ProMED-mail map can be accessed at: http://healthmap.org/r/1DX_.]

 

[Pathfinder]

Re: UK - Rabies case: Patient dies in London after being bitten by dog in South Asia

Rabies guide published after death

(UKPA)?13 hours ago

A new guide to help healthcare workers spot rabies cases has been published after a grandmother died from the disease.

The woman, believed to be in her 50s, was reportedly turned away twice by doctors at Darent Valley Hospital in Dartford, Kent, before she was finally diagnosed.

She died at London's Hospital for Tropical Diseases after she suffered a dog bite while holidaying in south-east Asia.

The Health Protection Agency (HPA) launched a new online training module for public health professionals and healthcare workers who deal with patients who might have been exposed to the disease.

The HPA said there is a "lack of awareness" among clinicians and public health practitioners about rabies exposure risk assessments and when and how to use the post-exposure vaccine.

...
http://www.google.com/hostednews/uk...rFPRM6v-tB6LEUj8Q?docId=N0037761340366134324A

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

HPA Launches Rabies E Learning Module for Health Care Workers

22 June 2012

A new online training module for public health professionals and healthcare workers dealing with patients who may have been exposed to rabies has been launched today by the Health Protection Agency (HPA).

Rabies is an acute viral infection that is almost universally fatal following the onset of symptoms, however prompt post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) with rabies vaccine and human rabies immunoglobulin (HRIG, an antibody) is highly effective at preventing disease.

The HPA issues PEP to approximately 1000 individuals per year, nonetheless, there is still a lack of awareness amongst clinicians and public health practitioners about rabies exposure risk assessments, and when and how PEP should be used.

The training module, developed by rabies experts at the agency, provides health professionals with the knowledge and tools necessary to undertake structured risk assessments of potential rabies exposures, and how to request PEP from local stockholders if needed. Interactive scenarios are included to reinforce learning in those undertaking the course.

The module is available through eHealth, an online education and training tool for NHS healthcare professionals and HPA staff. It can be accessed by logging onto the agency?s eHealth web link available on its website.

Dr David Brown, Head of the Rabies service at the Health Protection Agency (HPA), said: ?It's important for public health professionals and clinicians to know how to assess patients who have been in contact with animals where there is a potential rabies risk. We hope that this new HPA module will enhance their ability to assess this risk and help healthcare workers to easily access post-exposure prophylaxis for patients.?

Last year the HPA reported a threefold increase in the number of people seeking post-exposure vaccine for rabies since 2000 which suggests that more UK travellers may be putting themselves at risk of contact with potentially rabid animals whilst abroad.

Dr Brown went on to say: "It's also important for UK travellers to remember that there is a risk of rabies through contact with infected animals, particularly dogs, in countries where the disease has not been eliminated.
"There are simple precautions travellers can take to avoid being infected such as avoiding contact with all animals, including bats.

"Anyone who has been bitten, scratched or exposed to the saliva or nervous tissue of an animal abroad should clean the wound as soon as possible with soap and water and seek medical advice immediately. Post-exposure treatment with vaccine and human rabies immunoglobulin is highly effective in preventing rabies, if given soon after contact with an infected animal.

"Travellers should also remember to seek travel advice before travelling to a country where rabies is still a problem, as it may be appropriate for them to consider a course of pre-exposure vaccine."

The HPA provides advice to health professionals on post-exposure prophylaxis for rabies, and issues rabies vaccine or vaccine and rabies immunoglobulin according to Department of Health recommendations. The National Travel Health Network and Centre (NaTHNaC) provides advice on pre-exposure prophylaxis for travellers.
-Ends-



Notes to editors:

1. This module has been developed over the past year to assist health professionals with assessment of patients who have been in contact with animals where there is a potential rabies risk. It is not connected to the recent case of rabies in the UK.
2. The new eHealth module is available to health professionals and is CPD accredited. It can be accessed from the HPA?s website by logging onto: http://ehealthlearning.org.uk/arena/index.cfm
3. Information on rabies can be accessed from the HPA?s website here: http://www.hpa.org.uk/Topics/InfectiousDiseases/InfectionsAZ/Rabies/
4. To view a list of rabies risk by country, visit the following page on the HPA website: http://www.hpa.org.uk/web/HPAweb&HPAwebStandard/HPAweb_C/1259152458758

...

http://www.hpa.org.uk/NewsCentre/Na...Releases/120622RabieseLearningmodulelaunched/