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After an incubation period of several weeks to months, the virus passes via the peripheral nervous system and replicates in the central nervous system. Rabies virus can then be disseminated to salivary glands and other organs via neural innervation (3). Rabies can be prevented by administration of rabies postexposure prophylaxis (PEP) (4), which is highly effective in preventing rabies when administered before onset of clinical signs.
The closer to the central nervous system the bite is (head vs. foot) will also corrolate time to symtoms.
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'Revel in action, translate perceptions into instant judgements, and these into actions that are irrevocable, monumentous and dreadful - all this with lightning speed, in conditions of great stress and in an environment of high tension:what is expected of "us" is the impossible, yet we deliver just that.
(adapted from: Sherwin B. Nuland, MD, surgeon and author: The Wisdom of the Body, 1997 )
Education is the anti-ignorance we all need to better treat our patients. ss, 2008.
The blade is so sharp that the incision is perfect. They don't realize they've been cut until they're out of the fight: A Surgeon Warrior. I use a knife to defend life and to save it. ss (aka traumadoc)
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