Rabies researchers hit highs and lows on road to eliminating disease | Charles Rupprecht

Health professionals must be vigilant to defeat disease that still claims tens of thousands of lives each year despite breakthroughFor those of us involved in the global battle to eliminate rabies, these past few years have been tumultuous.There have been high points. In 2004, a Wisconsin schoolgirl, Jeanna Giese, became the first unvaccinated person to defeat the potentially life-threatening disease, giving real hope that the course of action to save her, known as the Milwaukee protocol, could lead to a lasting treatment.There has been success in the developing world, too, where the disease is most prevalent. By working with government, educationalists and local communities, we have developed strategies for eliminating rabies at a local level for very little upfront investment.But there have also been setbacks. The Milwaukee protocol (pdf), which involves putting the patient into a chemically induced coma to allow the body's immune system to gain strength, has had only sporadic success since our breakthrough with Jeanna. Despite the efforts of health professionals in the developing world, including those in my own organisation, the Global Alliance for Rabies Control, this clever, irrepressible killer continues to claim tens of thousands of lives every year.Partly through complacency (many governments assume that once the disease has been brought under control, they can ignore it), lack of awareness and inadequate infrastructure, areas once considered rabies-free are again fa...
Source: Guardian Unlimited Science - Category: Science Tags: theguardian.com Blogposts World news Infectious diseases Pharmaceuticals industry Medical research Health & wellbeing Vaccines and immunisation Animals Global development Science Source Type: news