On This Week in Virology #18, Vincent, Dick, and Alan discuss adenovirus type 36 and obesity, new influenza antiviral drugs, viral hemorrhagic septicemia virus of fish, and Ebola virus in pigs and pig farmers in the Phillipines.
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Regarding Rabies patient:
I heard Dr. Despommier mention a teen who had recovered from rabies. Im not too sure if this is the case that he was walking about, but to my understanding, this is the first case of patient who had symptomatic rabies with no prior prophylaxis before the onset in symptoms. I think this protocol had been tried again with limited success (although seems to me a boy in Brazil had this same protocol and survived). For her high school graduation she was interviewed on the news, and while her gait had changed a small amount, her speech was clear, and her mental faculties appeared to be wholly intact. Absolutely amazing.
The only reason I know this is because it happened here in Milwaukee and Childrens Hospital.
Here are a few links:
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5350…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeanna_Giese
Thanks for the information, Everett. You are absolutely right; the
young woman in Wisconsin is apparently the only individual to survive
rabies without having been vaccinated. The physicians placed her in a
coma which probably was the key to survival. Your CDC link documents
this case well. There is also an article in the NEJM on this case:
http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/abstract/35…
I'm not sure if Dick was referring to this or not. However, Dr.
Koprowski was probably referring to this case during his talk at
Columbia in May 2005. He indicated that the woman was severely
compromised, as I mentioned in the podcast, but apparently she has
recovered well. I found a USA Today article which indicates that she
had attended college.
Others have survived rabies after having been immunized; these are
apparently vaccine failures. Here is one reported in the NY Times:
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?sec=…
As for the person who Dick indicated had recently recovered from
rabies, I suspect he was thinking about the fatal case in Ireland. The
following is from the ProMed mail description:
A woman who contracted rabies while working in an African animal
sanctuary has become the 1st Briton to die from this virus infection
for 4 years. The woman, from Northern Ireland, had been in a critical
condition in the intensive care unit of Belfast's Royal Victoria
Hospital since the condition was diagnosed in December [2008]. It is
thought she was infected with the virus — which is invariably fatal
if not treated immediately — after being scratched or bitten by a
rabid dog she had been helping to look after.
The ProMedMail link:
http://www.promedmail.org/pls/otn/f?p=2400:1001…
This case had been discussed in the virology meeting in Saanen,
Switzerland a few weeks ago that I attended.
Vincent
Regarding Rabies patient:
I heard Dr. Despommier mention a teen who had recovered from rabies. Im not too sure if this is the case that he was walking about, but to my understanding, this is the first case of patient who had symptomatic rabies with no prior prophylaxis before the onset in symptoms. I think this protocol had been tried again with limited success (although seems to me a boy in Brazil had this same protocol and survived). For her high school graduation she was interviewed on the news, and while her gait had changed a small amount, her speech was clear, and her mental faculties appeared to be wholly intact. Absolutely amazing.
The only reason I know this is because it happened here in Milwaukee and Childrens Hospital.
Here are a few links:
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5350…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeanna_Giese
Thanks for the information, Everett. You are absolutely right; the
young woman in Wisconsin is apparently the only individual to survive
rabies without having been vaccinated. The physicians placed her in a
coma which probably was the key to survival. Your CDC link documents
this case well. There is also an article in the NEJM on this case:
http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/abstract/35…
I'm not sure if Dick was referring to this or not. However, Dr.
Koprowski was probably referring to this case during his talk at
Columbia in May 2005. He indicated that the woman was severely
compromised, as I mentioned in the podcast, but apparently she has
recovered well. I found a USA Today article which indicates that she
had attended college.
Others have survived rabies after having been immunized; these are
apparently vaccine failures. Here is one reported in the NY Times:
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?sec=…
As for the person who Dick indicated had recently recovered from
rabies, I suspect he was thinking about the fatal case in Ireland. The
following is from the ProMed mail description:
A woman who contracted rabies while working in an African animal
sanctuary has become the 1st Briton to die from this virus infection
for 4 years. The woman, from Northern Ireland, had been in a critical
condition in the intensive care unit of Belfast's Royal Victoria
Hospital since the condition was diagnosed in December [2008]. It is
thought she was infected with the virus — which is invariably fatal
if not treated immediately — after being scratched or bitten by a
rabid dog she had been helping to look after.
The ProMedMail link:
http://www.promedmail.org/pls/otn/f?p=2400:1001…
This case had been discussed in the virology meeting in Saanen,
Switzerland a few weeks ago that I attended.
Vincent