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December 21, 2023 at 1:45 pm #2364
Anonymous
InactiveOn 23rd February Times of India reported that a student of Madras Christian College died of rabies. There was also an accompanied article in the paper that an attempt was made by doctors at CMC vellore by treating the victim by the Milwaukee Protocol. The doctors here were divided on the treatment of rabies protocol. The paper indicated that the head of community medicine at GH said there was no way to save a patient once the person’s brain was affected by the virus. He also said that they do not try new strategies at GH and that prevention was their only priority. Statistics show that about 25000 people die of rabies in India out of a total of 30000 for the whole the world.
Is rabies preventable? Yes 100% preventable if we started treatment promptly. The basics of treatment are:
1. Immediate wound cleaning
2. Human / Equine rabies immunoglobulin infiltration around the wound
3. A full course of anti-rabies vaccine.
Without going in to the depth of management the debate here is whether we can prevent death in a patient who has a confirmed diagnosis of rabies. The Milwaukee protocol has saved 6 patients with confirmed diagnosis of Rabies. This is not a medical miracle but a rare outcome from a new protocol in treatment.
There should really be no argument about treating a patient confirmed as suffering from rabies through the Milwaukee protocol. Yes it is expensive and will involve a dedicated medical team to treat the victim. Even if there is a small chance of saving a patient, is it not worth the attempt rather than condemn them to sure death? This treatment protocol needs the support of the medical fraternity, Government agencies, the public and most of all from the media.
What is the Milwaukee Protocol:
The treatment involves putting the patient with symptoms and signs of rabies into a chemically induced coma and administering antiviral drugs. It was developed and named by Rodney Willoughby, following the successful treatment of a 16 year old girl from Wisconsin. The Milwaukee protocol is sometimes referred to as the Wisconsin protocol.
This is also included under the Paediatrics Section
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