Health Experts Remind Rabies Can Be Infectious Through Open Injuries

Veterinarians check the health condition of a dog at the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences (FKIK) Satya Wacana Christian University (UKSW), Salatiga, Central Java, Saturday (17/6/2023)/ANTARA PHOTO/Aloysius Jarot Nugroho/tom)

JAKARTA - Health experts from the Indonesian Pediatrician Association remind that the transmission of rabies to humans can occur either through bite or non-biting, one of which is through open wounds.

Members of the IDAI Tropical Infection and Tropical Disease Coordination Unit, Dr. dr. Novie Homenta Rampenan, SpA(K), DTM&H, MCTM (TP) explained that when dogs, cats or apes infected with the rabies virus bite humans, viral saliva will enter the human body through a bite.

Meanwhile, non-biting transmission, said Novie, can be through exposure to open skin.

"So, if we are scolded by a dog that has rabies, especially if we have a wound, it can enter the rabies virus," Novie said as quoted by ANTARA, Saturday, June 17.

rabies disease has an incubation period or an interval that lasts between exposure to pathogens to symptoms that first appear, about two to two years. Meanwhile, the World Health Organization (WHO) noted that the journey of rabies disease in the human body takes an average of 90 days.

Health reports in the United States, said Novie, rabies disease can also be transmitted through organ transplantation. As a result of this, Novie continued, the recipients of the organ eventually died.

Therefore, he asked the public to always be aware of the transmission of rabies disease referring to the incubation period of the virus in the human body.

The rabies virus that enters the human body will begin to replicate in muscle tissue around the bite site, rise to the brain, reproduce, then spread all organs of the body.

However, Novie said, not all dog bites contain rabies. When someone treats a dog, the initial treatment is to be calm, wash wounds with running water with soap, determinants, or antiseptics, so that the virus can be carried out for 10-15 minutes.

After that, immediately check at the Puskesmas or hospital.

Before getting the vaccine or anti-rabies serum, said Novie, a person must pay close attention to the status of the area where the bite occurs, the way the bite occurs (derived from provocation or non-provocation), bite wounds (smalls, number, injured states), and the vaccination status of the dog. bite.

"Recommendations from WHO are more or less the same, if it is only washed, it is enough to wash it, there is no need to be vaccinated. Meanwhile, if the wound is open, let alone many, it means seeing the endemic status of the rabies area or not," said Novie.