title: Rabies in Turkey: three human cases illustrating the importance of suspecting exposure.
abstract: Rabies, a fatal encephalitis of viral origin, is still a major health problem in the developing world. It begins, after exposure, with centripetal spread of the virus through peripheral nerves to the central nervous system. The virus proliferates there and spreads to the tissues via peripheral nerves. The diagnosis is not difficult when a nonimmunized patient presents with hydrophobia after a bite by a known rabid animal. Failure to identify an exposure and administer postexposure prophylaxis, however, can lead to a fatal outcome. We report 3 fatal cases of rabies in which the risk of developing rabies had not been seriously considered. Two had apparent dog bites, but 1 had a minor abrasion. Because rabies is uniformly fatal, possible exposure should be seriously considered in patients with mammalian bites or scratches.
authors: Council of Forensic Medicine, Ministry of Justice, Istanbul, Turkey.
authors: Yalcin
authors: Y
authors: Buyuk
authors: Ibrahim
authors: I
authors: Uzun
authors: Yesim
authors: Y
authors: Aybar
authors: Gulay
authors: G
authors: Kurnaz
authors: Resat
authors: R
authors: Ozaras
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000818:Animals; D001733:Bites and Stings / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D004285:Dogs; D004638:Emergency Treatment; D017809:Fatal Outcome; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011818:Rabies / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy; D014421:Turkey / Q000453:epidemiology