Rabies - a vaccine preventable, zoonotic, viral disease affecting the central nervous system. It infects mammals, spreading through saliva, scratches, or direct contact with mucosa (eyes, mouth, or open wounds). As soon as clinical symptoms , rabies is near-100% fatal. It is present on all continents except Antarctica, and is responsible for, at least, some 59,000 deaths annually. Historically it has been present for thousands of years, with the first written record of a person killed as a result of rabies arising in 2300 BC in the Mosaic Esmuna Code of Babylon. And yet, it wouldn't be until 1885 AD when the first cure for rabies, in the form of a vaccine, was created and trialled.
Join Hayley this week as she dives head first into the terrifying world and history of rabies, from its causes, its terrifying symptoms, and how the man who helped to revolutionise the way we consume and store milk created the vaccine that would save millions of lives with nothing more than a dream and a fascination for removing the spines of rabbits and injecting it into his test subjects all in an effort to cure this terrible disease... but it was worth it in the end!
This episode was hosted by Hayley O'Connor and joined by Arron Keegan and Conor Daly. The intro and outro music - Strollin' Along - was recorded by David Renda. Follow us on social media! Just search for "That's Old News" on Tiktok, Instagram, and Twitter/X, or head to the linktree in our bio and follow us from there!
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Chapters:
(00:00) Intro
(05:04) 1950s America, Little Timmy, and Buddy the Rabies-Ridden Dog Story
(15:38) "Mad dog disease", What is Rabies, and the History of Identifying the Virus
(18:04) Symptoms, Furious and Paralytic Rabies, and How it Spreads
(24:42) Louis Pasteur and the First Vaccine for Rabies
(49:09) Rabies in Today's World
(55:00) Post Show Banter
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Sources & Further Reading:
- Held, Joe R., Steele, James H., and Tierkel, Ernest S., "Rabies in Man and Animals in the United States, 1946-65: An Epidemiologic Review" in "Public Health Reports (1896-1970) 82, no. 11 (1967).
- Irish Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Animal Health Surveillance, "Rabies", available online at https://www.animalhealthsurveillance.agriculture.gov.ie/individualdiseaselistings/rabies/ .
- John Hopkins Medicine, "Encephalitis", available online at https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/conditions-and-diseases/encephalitis#:~:text=Encephalitis%20is%20inflammation%20of%20the,light%2C%20mental%20confusion%20and%20seizures
- Parker, Steve, "Medicine: The Definitive Illustrated History".
- World Health Organization, "Rabies", available online at https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/rabies#:~:text=Rabies%20is%20a%20vaccine%2Dpreventable,%2C%20cats%2C%20livestock%20and%20wildlife .
