When: Annually, September 28.
September 28 marks World Rabies Day. The United Nations World Health Organisation WHO chose this day because it is the anniversary of the death of Louis Pasteur (December 27, 1822 – September 28, 1895).
Bron: Wikimedia Commons.
Louis Pasteur
It is easy to guess that on this day, the fight against rabies takes centre stage. Pasteur developed this vaccine in 1885. The first successful attempt was to control the disease in a dog, then the vaccine was tested on horses. The first treatment of a human was on 6 July 1885. The patient in question was then nine-year-old Joseph Meister (February 21, 1876 – June 24, 1940). Meister thus entered the history books as the first human to be administered the vaccine.
On July 4, the boy was bitten by a hunting dog. The owner of the dog was also bitten. After the dog was examined by a vet, pieces of wood, straw and hay were found in the animal’s stomach. The vet thus drew the conclusion that the animal was infected. Meister’s parents took him to Pasteur with a request to make him better. Although the vaccine had not yet been tested on humans, Pasteur decided to administer the vaccine. It did not stop at one injection, as in the following 13 days the boy received more injections. Until July 27, he remained under medical supervision. He was then allowed to return from Paris to his hometown in Alsace.
Never fully proven
Yet it was never fully proven that Meister was actually infected. The dog in question was never investigated further. However, he did survive medical treatment. Things ended badly for him, as he ended his life in the first days of the war. He was involved with the Pasteur Institute in Paris and took care of this abandoned institute. Three days after the invasion by the Germans, he committed suicide, believing his family had perished. They did not get home in time. They found him after he had died.
Nowadays, vaccination is proceeding after it has been established that the animal is indeed infected. This is only possible if the animal has been caught and quarantined. If this is not entirely certain and there are suspicions that the animal is or was infected, a preventive vaccination can still be decided on. Besides vaccinations, it is also possible to give antibodies. Their availability is only limited to a few countries. The quality of the vaccine is not always guaranteed in some cases. Older vaccines are additionally not always reliable and caused adverse side effects.
In the Netherlands, the number of rabies cases is not too bad. In the cases where it occurred, these were people who had contracted the infection during a stay outside the Netherlands.
Topics
Timely treatment of rabies or rabies is essential. In addition, good education is important. Furthermore, what is an ongoing issue: why do certain parts of the world have access to medication and certain parts of the world do not? These are all topics at the centre of this day.
More information
The World Health Organization (WHO) has a special campaign website containing all relevant information since 2012. The most up-to-date information can also be found here.
Source: Wikimedia Commons.
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