Rabies Pamphlet

On Good Friday I rescued two kittens. A few days ago one of the dogs attacked the kitten and I was bit by the feline while I prying them apart. Even though I am quite certain this cat does not have rabies I did not think the risk was worth taking so I went to the hospital to get a rabies vaccination shot. What follows is not the story of getting a rabies shot. That is whole other convoluted and ridiculous story for another post. This post is about an interesting rabies pamphlet the hospital had on display.

Right off we are greeted with this awesome cover. There's a cute little puppy and his owner is petting him all the while oblivious to the lurking fear within. One bite and the devil dog is loosed into the boy's blood and it's "game over, man" for him.

The inside of the pamphlet is a series dreary and dismal Q and A's.

Q: What is rabies?

A: Rabies continues to be a public health problem in the Philippines, which is one of the top 10 countries with rabies problem. It is responsible for the deaths of 200 to 300 Filipinos per year.

Q: How is rabies transmitted?

A: Dogs are responsible for 96% of human rabies cases in South-East Asia, but there are also reports of human rabies due to bites of cats, horses, cattle, and other carnivorous animals.

Bites from cattle, horses, and other carnivores animals? All of these Q and A's are ripped from the WHO's website and the fuller answer reads:

Dogs are responsible for 96% of human rabies cases in South-East Asia, but there are also reports of human rabies due to bites of cats, mongooses, jackals, foxes, wolves and other carnivorous animals. Rabies due to monkey and rat bites are rare. Horses and donkeys get aggressive and bite ferociously when they are rabid. Cattle and buffaloes do not bite when they are rabid, but precautions should be taken while examining sick animals that are salivating.

https://www.who.int/rabies/resources/SEA_CD_278_FAQs_Rabies.pdf

The final three questions are excessively depressing and fatalistic.

Q: Is there any specific treatment for a rabies patient?

A: There is no specific treatment once symptoms of rabies have developed. There is almost nothing that can be done apart from keeping the patient comfortable, and avoiding physical pain and emotional stress. 

Q: Is rabies always fatal?

A: Human rabies is almost always 100% fatal, with no specific treatment available anywhere in the world.

Q: What should I do when I get bitten or scratched by an animal?

A: Please treat any potential exposure to rabies seriously. Once clinical symptoms appear, death is almost inevitable.

The final picture is quite a gem. A very tender and realistic depiction of a child infected with rabies and lying on his death bed.

Actually he is almost hovering rather than lying. This picture is straight out of The Exorcist. I think that is supposed to be the boy from the cover but here is wearing a regular t-shirt while on the cover he is wearing a sleeveless shirt. Has he learned his lesson about the lurking fear? I think so.

Over all this pamphlet is a little scary. There is no hope offered. There is no mention of the vaccine. The only advice a patient receives is to wash the wound and consult the nearest Animal Bite Centre. And if you don't you will die. You will die a painful death gnashing your teeth and salivating as you  violently seize and thrash about while tied spread-eagled to a bed.

The back of the pamphlet isn't very remarkable. Except for one thing. One teeny tiny thing.

Dum-dum-DUUUUMM! Sanofi Pasteur!?  Are you kidding? The French pharmaceutical company that manufactured Dengevaxia which the Philippines government indiscriminately administered to 800,000 kids? The French pharmaceutical company that conspired with President Aquino to use Filipino children as guinea pigs?  The French pharmaceutical company that sold President Aquino a vaccine for the express purpose of killing Filipino children??

Well that is what some idiots believe. Do they also know that the rabies vaccine used in the Philippines, Verorab, is manufactured by this same company? I bet they do not. 

https://www.who.int/immunization_standards/vaccine_quality/PQ_112_rabies_1_dose_sanofi_pasteur/en/

Probably better to keep this information secret lest any more panic breaks out.