Why is rabies an infamous topic on HA forums?

[Deepseathree]

I think it’s because the element of no control. Yes there are vaccines and you can get them up to two weeks plus after transmission from a rabid animal. But it’s the fact that if it actually is rabies that you it’s basically 100% fatal without treatment. It’s kind of the same worry with N. Fowleri.

I’m in the middle of a rabies fear at the moment. There is a raccoon that rummages my trash. I decided to feed him. During one night he gently took something from my hand but his mouth touched my fingers and I got his saliva on my has that had previously had a cut. Rationally I know that if he had rabies the raccoon would not have been as docile with me that night or the following nights. But that doesn’t mean I’m not going to fear rabies.

Plus most people who worry about rabies outside of bats can easily determine if the animal has rabies. Basically if you still see that animal after 10 days, it doesn’t have rabies. At least it doesn’t have it to where it’s transmisable.

[paranoid-viking]

Just a thread like that, why is it one of the more hated fear, along with brain eating amoeba and ALS/MS?? People absolutely hate talking about these 3-4 culprits.

I think people in here feeds each other fears. When I joined two years ago there were hardly any rabies posts here at all; but all of a sudden; there were a bonanza of rabies threads. I think people who comes here for support click on the rabies threads where the fearer list up the symptoms and then another hypocondriac do the same think about whter a bat bit them without noticing and....BINGO!
Same with the brain eating amoeba stuff although I must say those post REALLY are outlandish. I mean, seriously; I thought someone was trolling the first time I read it.

---------- Post added at 09:47 ---------- Previous post was at 09:45 ----------

The fear of being bitten by a rabid bat seems to be an American fear rather than a UK / European fear, and it appeared on this forum after the members of Anxiety Zone...which had mostly American members...shut down and the majority moved over to NMP.

But apparently in some parts of the US there's still a risk, if that's correct? Hence the fear I guess.

Cath ☺

When you have an irrtional HA there is no limit to what imaginary nightmare scenario you can think up; regardless of where you are. There are plenty of rabies threads from Europe here; and there was even one who thought that brain eating amoebas were living in swimming pools in Denmark.

---------- Post added at 09:50 ---------- Previous post was at 09:47 ----------

Probably because rabies is a terrifying illness that people have feared for millenia. There is tons of documentation of the fear of dog bites. Emily bronte seared herself with a hot poker after getting bitten by a dog. Until fairly recentlt , like the 70s when dog vaccines got good, rabies cases were higher in the US. So , historical fear doesn't just evaporate. It passes through generations, in stories and zeitgeist. Plus, newer trends in rabies are pretty sensational bc they are mosrlt cryptic and can't be traced to a known bite or exposure.

By the early 20th century or so, there was a belef that rabies could actually be cured by steam bath. But that was probably due to hypocondriacs misdiagnosing themself and that the fear; and symptoms disappeared after a session in the steam bath. But some docto; or quack; who claimed himself to have had rabies and cured himself with it cashed in a lot of bucks with this "cure".

---------- Post added at 09:51 ---------- Previous post was at 09:50 ----------

My Dad and his siblings were often bitten by all types of animals that could carry rabies he was a child (he worked on a farm all his life). They would be out working until late, they would all get bitten when they worked on certain crops. They were exposed to a lot of stuff. None of them ever got seriously sick! My Dad is heading for his 70's and all his siblings are perfect as well.

None of them ever got really sick, I think my Dad's twin got a local bacterial infection on the part of the arm he was bitten once? They are all still doing well! Medicine has moved forward and lot since he was young!

But there is no rabies in Ireland, is it?

---------- Post added at 09:55 ---------- Previous post was at 09:51 ----------

I am actually surprised, as you seem to be too, by how many people get bent out of shape about rabies threads. Given a centuries or millenias old fascination and mythology about rabies, it would be weird for people now (especially people on a site bc they have anxiety and OCD) to NOT have any concern or fear for rabies at all, especially considering it is endemic in wildlife in the United States (some areas have more of it than others, but nationalism means we don't always think about regions so Americans have general fear when they hear about a US case. Florida and California have a crazy number of wildlife cases, though!) This board brings people from different countries together, esp after AZ bit the dust, so Americans are going to voice concerns that might not apply so much in Europe. And that is just going to have to be okay, lol!!

Endemic? Far as I know there are 2 - TWO - unfornate cases of rabies in the US each year; in a population of 300 million+ people. And is it really "endemic" among the wildlife population all across the nation? Really?

[NervUs]

Endemic? Far as I know there are 2 - TWO - unfornate cases of rabies in the US each year; in a population of 300 million+ people. And is it really "endemic" among the wildlife population all across the nation? Really?

It is endemic in raccoons on the east coast of the US. That is not my word but epidemiologists saying it. I believe it is endemic in skunks in the west.

The two unfortunate cases in the US are bc people take vaccines. If you are bitten by a wild animal, it would be pretty stupid to throw up your hands and say " only 2 cases!" I get that the problem is the grey areas and hypochondriacs run with the littlest provocation. That doesn't mean it is dumb to have rabies cross your mind if you come into contact with an animal's saliva in the US. As long as that continues to happen, there will be rabies threads.

[lofwyr]

Even with all the cases floating around, it is so, SOOO rare. And furthermore, the method of exposure makes it even more difficult to contract. Sure, if rabies were an airborne pathogen, it would be terrible. But it requires the entering of saliva through the recipient's blood stream.

All that said, I have people in my life who had genuine rabies exposures. My daughter at summer camp, they had a bat in their cabin, the bat died in the night, and because of that, the camp, who was really just being extra careful, paid for all of their rabies vaccinations.

I have another friend whose cats, very helpfully I might add, killed a bat in his house while he slept and put the bat's head in his face in the middle of the night. Also, a very obvious risk exposure. He also got the shots. Incidentally, we was actually attacked the other day by a bat during the daylight hours, the bat flew at him repeatedly in the parking lot, and was obviously disturbed. But not having HA, and knowing he did not get his skin broken in any way, he avoided the bat as best he could and drove away.

I think a huge part of the problem is folks with HA tend to always *know* that they are the exception to the rule. It doesn't matter if you have a one in 100 million or higher chance of contracting the disease. And it is also the deadliness of the disease too. No one survives rabies, so that is a huge trigger for some people.

No one (well, few people) on this board fears a common cold. But the ability, in one's mind, to change that cold in leukemia or NHL etc, is the sign of a very active imagination that focuses on worst case scenarios. I think rabies is a penultimate worst case scenario.

It also reminds me that for some people I think news stories and current events are even more detrimental than googling symptoms. A 24 hours news cycle paints a portrait of doom and gloom, and rare medical problems are near the top of the stories they like to fill with.

[MagpieWitch]

So you know my rabies story, most do. Long story short, someone left kittens in cat lover neighbor yard, they adopted them, I played with them, one scratched me, 6 weeks later I fear rabies due to low grade fever without an obvious cause I've had for a week now.

Now today my father tells me that despite my fear of the cats, all the kids from my street are playing with them daily. And today my brother (he is 8, I am 22) and his friends decided to bathe the kittens and the kittens got scared and scratched them all over. No one seems concerned. Not the parents nor my father (who is a doctor and surgeon).

Should I worry for my little brother? Should I worry for myself? I mean I haven't seen the kittens up close in a while, but I am sure that I saw the same kittens 20 days after my incident and they are still the same so maybe those are just kittens and they don't have rabies that will kill me?

[Scass]

No you shouldn’t worry.

I just read your very rational responses to someone else’s rabies fear. If only you could use that kind of problem solving on your own fear. I know it’s hard, but it might help.


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[hazelbritt]

No you shouldn’t worry.

I just read your very rational responses to someone else’s rabies fear. If only you could use that kind of problem solving on your own fear. I know it’s hard, but it might help.


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This! 100%

[nomorepanic]

Hi

This is just a courtesy reply to let you know that your thread was merged with another of your threads.

Please when posting on similar topics add it onto your previous post rather than starting a new one.

It is nothing personal it is just to make it easier for people to follow your story and to give you advice as a whole.

[MagpieWitch]

Thank you for the thread merge!
I am just very scared I can't explain it. I keep thinking what if the kitten just had rabies but it's like just carrying it and not actually sick (like some HIV carriers) and other stuff that hasn't yet been documented.
And people keep telling me the 10 day rule, the fact that it was a scratch and not a bite, the other kittens that live with it are all fine and well still and kids play with the kitten daily.
I am just afraid.
I just keep imagining the worst scenario and how I will be dying and I keep checking if I can still swallow (and drinking ungodly amounts of cold water) and I just need to lay it off and stop :( I hate feeling like this

[NervUs]

Thank you for the thread merge!
I am just very scared I can't explain it. I keep thinking what if the kitten just had rabies but it's like just carrying it and not actually sick (like some HIV carriers) and other stuff that hasn't yet been documented.
And people keep telling me the 10 day rule, the fact that it was a scratch and not a bite, the other kittens that live with it are all fine and well still and kids play with the kitten daily.
I am just afraid.
I just keep imagining the worst scenario and how I will be dying and I keep checking if I can still swallow (and drinking ungodly amounts of cold water) and I just need to lay it off and stop :( I hate feeling like this

It is on you at this point. Doing swallow tests all day is doing nothing but reinforcing to your brain that this is a legitimate threat, when it is anything but.

Fight back against the thoughts and certainly don't test if you can swallow. Just no!