Summary

In this study session, you have learned that:

• Rabies is the most fatal of all communicable diseases; it is almost never cured once the patient shows symptoms.
• The virus that causes rabies is transmitted in the bite of infected canines; 99% of cases in Africa are due to dog bites.
• Immediate first aid for the wound and urgent referral for post-exposure prophylaxis with rabies vaccine and rabies immunoglobulin reduces the transmission of rabies after a dog bite and saves thousands of lives.
• Prevention of rabies is mainly through elimination of unwanted dogs, vaccination where this can be afforded, and education of the population about avoiding dog bites and seeking immediate treatment if they are bitten.
• Taeniasis due to beef tapeworm is a common disease in countries where people eat raw meat. Infected animals (cows, pigs) have tapeworms embedded in cysts in their muscles, which can be killed by thorough cooking.
• Infected humans pass up to 600,000 eggs in their faeces every day. Open defaecation in fields and using raw human sewage as fertiliser contaminates grazing land, where cows eat the eggs attached to the grass. This perpetuates the lifecycle.
• Environmental and food hygiene, proper sanitation, and cooking of beef thoroughly are the major prevention measures against taeniasis.