A Brief History of Rabies
Stuff You Missed in History Class
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The Milwaukee Protocol Is Not Working
A woman in Milwaukee was put into a medically induced coma after showing symptoms of rabies. She survived, but efforts to replicate her success have been largely unsuccessful. Only 11 of the 38 people who tried it and succeeded were able to survive.
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Today’s rabies prophylaxis is almost 100% effective at preventing human death from the bite of a rabid animal. How did people come to understand rabies, and then develop a vaccination for it?
Research:
- Etymologia: Rabies. Emerg Infect Dis [serial on the Internet]. 2012 Jul [date cited]. http://dx.doi.org/10.3201/eid1807.ET1807
- Velasco-Villa, Andres et al. “The history of rabies in the Western Hemisphere.” Antiviral research vol. 146 (2017): 221-232. doi:10.1016/j.antiviral.2017.03.013
- Pearce JLouis Pasteur and Rabies: a brief noteJournal of Neurology, Neurosurgery & Psychiatry 2002;73:82.
- Wendt, Diane. “Surviving rabies 100 years ago.” National Museum of American History. 10/28/2013. https://americanhistory.si.edu/blog/2013/10/surviving-rabies-100-years-ago.html
- Blancou, Jean. “The Evolution of Rabies Epidemiology in Wildlife.” Director General, Office International des Épizooties. https://www.vetmed.ucdavis.edu/sites/g/files/dgvnsk491/files/inline-files/EVOLUTION_RABIES_EPIDEMIOLOGY_WILDLIFE.pdf
- Lite, Jordan. “Medical Mystery: Only One Person Has Survived Rabies without Vaccine--But How?.” Scientific American. 10/8/2008. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/jeanna-giese-rabies-survivor/
- Zeiler, Frederick A., and Alan C. Jackson. “Critical Appraisal of the Milwaukee Protocol for Rabies: This Failed Approach Should Be Abandoned.” Canadian Journal of Neurological Sciences / Journal Canadien Des Sciences Neurologiques, vol. 43, no. 1, 2016, pp. 44–51., doi:10.1017/cjn.2015.331.
- Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. “Mass Treatment of Humans Exposed to Rabies -- New Hampshire, 1994.” 7/7/1995. https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/00038110.htm
- Ledesma, Leandro Augusto et al. “Comparing clinical protocols for the treatment of human rabies: the Milwaukee protocol and the Brazilian protocol (Recife).” Revista da Sociedade Brasileira de Medicina Tropical vol. 53 e20200352. 6 Nov. 2020, doi:10.1590/0037-8682-0352-2020
- Braus, Patricia. "Rabies." The Gale Encyclopedia of Science, edited by Katherine H. Nemeh and Jacqueline L. Longe, 6th ed., vol. 6, Gale, 2021, pp. 3671-3673. Gale In Context: Science, link.gale.com/apps/doc/CX8124402043/GPS?u=mlin_n_melpub&sid=bookmark-GPS&xid=fb022ca3. Accessed 13 Apr. 2022.
- Gelfand, Toby. “11 January 1887, the Day Medicine Changed: Joseph Grancher's Defense of Pasteur's Treatment for Rabies.” Bulletin of the History of Medicine, Volume 76, Number 4, Winter 2002, pp. 698-718 (Article). Published by Johns Hopkins University Press https://doi.org/10.1353/bhm.2002.0176
- Nadal, Deborah. “A Child, A Dog, A Virus and an Anthropologist.” Practicing Anthropology, Fall 2016, Vol. 38, No. 4. Via JSTOR. https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.2307/26539805
- Botting, Jack H. “Rabies.” From Animals and Medicine: The Contribution of Animal Experiments to the Control of Disease. Open Book Publishers. (2015). Via JSTOR. https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt15m7ng5.7
- Baer, George M. “The History of Rabies.” From Rabies: Second Edition. Edited by Alan C. Jackson and William H. Wunner. 2007.
- Jackson, Alan C. “History of Rabies Research.” From: Rabies: Scientific Basis of the Disease and Its Management. Third Edition. 2013.
- Hansen, Bert. “America's First Medical Breakthrough: How Popular Excitement about a French Rabies Cure in 1885 Raised New Expectations for Medical Progress.” The American Historical Review , Apr., 1998, Vol. 103, No. 2. Via JSTOR. https://www.jstor.org/stable/2649773
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