Peru: Antibodies Seen in Amazon Dwellers Suggest That Rabies May Be Survivable
Peru: Antibodies Seen in Amazon Dwellers Suggest That Rabies May Be Survivable
By DONALD G. McNEIL Jr.
Published: August 6, 2012
Defying conventional wisdom about rabies, a new study suggests that the disease may not be 100 percent fatal.
Scientists who took blood samples from 63 relatively healthy villagers in the Amazon jungle in Peru, where vampire bat bites are common, found seven people who had antibodies to rabies. Only one reported ever having had a rabies shot (which would also produce antibodies).
The study, led by scientists from the Centers for Disease Control and Protection and Peru’s Health Ministry, was published Aug. 1 in The American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene.
Rabies kills about 55,000 people a year, mostly in Africa and Asia; many are children bitten by dogs. But in Peru, 81 percent of known rabies deaths are from bats.
More:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/07/health/study-suggests-that-rabies-may-not-always-be-fatal.html?_r=1&ref=health
