A Brief History of Rabies

Today’s rabies prophylaxis is almost 100% effective at preventing human death from the bite of a rabid animal. How did people come to understand rabies, and then develop a vaccination for it?

Research:

• Etymologia: Rabies. Emerg Infect Dis [serial on the Internet]. 2012 Jul [date cited]. http://dx.doi.org/10.3201/eid1807.ET1807
• Velasco-Villa, Andres et al. “The history of rabies in the Western Hemisphere.” Antiviral research vol. 146 (2017): 221-232. doi:10.1016/j.antiviral.2017.03.013
• Pearce JLouis Pasteur and Rabies: a brief noteJournal of Neurology, Neurosurgery & Psychiatry 2002;73:82.
• Wendt, Diane. “Surviving rabies 100 years ago.” National Museum of American History. 10/28/2013. https://americanhistory.si.edu/blog/2013/10/surviving-rabies-100-years-ago.html
• Blancou, Jean. “The Evolution of Rabies Epidemiology in Wildlife.” Director General, Office International des Épizooties. https://www.vetmed.ucdavis.edu/sites/g/files/dgvnsk491/files/inline-files/EVOLUTION_RABIES_EPIDEMIOLOGY_WILDLIFE.pdf
• Lite, Jordan. “Medical Mystery: Only One Person Has Survived Rabies without Vaccine–But How?.” Scientific American. 10/8/2008. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/jeanna-giese-rabies-survivor/
• Zeiler, Frederick A., and Alan C. Jackson. “Critical Appraisal of the Milwaukee Protocol for Rabies: This Failed Approach Should Be Abandoned.” Canadian Journal of Neurological Sciences / Journal Canadien Des Sciences Neurologiques, vol. 43, no. 1, 2016, pp. 44–51., doi:10.1017/cjn.2015.331.
• Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. “Mass Treatment of Humans Exposed to Rabies — New Hampshire, 1994.” 7/7/1995. https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/00038110.htm
• Ledesma, Leandro Augusto et al. “Comparing clinical protocols for the treatment of human rabies: the Milwaukee protocol and the Brazilian protocol (Recife).” Revista da Sociedade Brasileira de Medicina Tropical vol. 53 e20200352. 6 Nov. 2020, doi:10.1590/0037-8682-0352-2020
• Braus, Patricia. “Rabies.” The Gale Encyclopedia of Science, edited by Katherine H. Nemeh and Jacqueline L. Longe, 6th ed., vol. 6, Gale, 2021, pp. 3671-3673. Gale In Context: Science, link.gale.com/apps/doc/CX8124402043/GPS?u=mlin_n_melpub&sid=bookmark-GPS&xid=fb022ca3. Accessed 13 Apr. 2022.
• Gelfand, Toby. “11 January 1887, the Day Medicine Changed: Joseph Grancher’s Defense of Pasteur’s Treatment for Rabies.” Bulletin of the History of Medicine, Volume 76, Number 4, Winter 2002, pp. 698-718 (Article). Published by Johns Hopkins University Press https://doi.org/10.1353/bhm.2002.0176
• Nadal, Deborah. “A Child, A Dog, A Virus and an Anthropologist.” Practicing Anthropology, Fall 2016, Vol. 38, No. 4. Via JSTOR. https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.2307/26539805
• Botting, Jack H. “Rabies.” From Animals and Medicine: The Contribution of Animal Experiments to the Control of Disease. Open Book Publishers. (2015). Via JSTOR. https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt15m7ng5.7
• Baer, George M. “The History of Rabies.” From Rabies: Second Edition. Edited by Alan C. Jackson and William H. Wunner. 2007.
• Jackson, Alan C. “History of Rabies Research.” From: Rabies: Scientific Basis of the Disease and Its Management. Third Edition. 2013.
• Hansen, Bert. “America’s First Medical Breakthrough: How Popular Excitement about a French Rabies Cure in 1885 Raised New Expectations for Medical Progress.” The American Historical Review , Apr., 1998, Vol. 103, No. 2. Via JSTOR. https://www.jstor.org/stable/2649773

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