Rabies...
Location: Medicine O.P.D.
Time: 10:00 a.m.
All the students were hanging around. Some talking bout the journals. Some bout the case. Some just rubbish. Thinking it would be just another day in the O.P.D
But then I saw two guys bringing in a semiconscious guy in. It's not what you see everyday but still what could it be? I thought. Must be some drunkard.
Out of curiosity I went to see him being shown to the H.O. The guys said a dog had bitten him last night. An alarm went off in my head. Could it be rabies? Everyone thought so. The patient started having jerky contractions of the whole body. I don't think it is painful for the patient but it certainly is for anyone watching a person not being able to control his own body shaking vigorously. Then it stopped again and he went into his semiconscious state again. They showed the wound. Two or three lacerations on the shoulder. By now everyone was sure it was rabies.
A sense of urgency and a bit of fear went through. The H.O. took the B.P. while we were just asking the rest of the history. Just then the patient started moaning for water. The voice had such pain that we would have given him water even if he meant going thirsty. A friend of mine rushed to get her bottle, while the rest stood wondering that how can a rabies patient ask for water, they are supposed to be afraid of water. But the short history gave the answer. He had not yet reached the stage of Hydrophobia. What happens is every time the patient drinks water the swallowing muscles contract very painfully. This is what brings about the fear in the patient. The fear is so much that even seeing or hearing water can start the contractions.
I ran to stop my friend from getting water. She reluctantly agreed (the moaning was very bad). On asking, the guys said whenever he tried to drink water since the previous night he had attacks of contractions all over the body with his tongue stretched out.
Now there was another fear among us. There is a rare chance that rabies may be secreted in the sweat and may get transmitted. Now some of us had touched him before knowing he had rabies. They started washing their hands with soap and spirit. Others started asking each other if they've touched him just to be safe. of course this was a bit too much but you can't take risks with rabies and also the atmosphere in the room was very tense. There was panic among most as there was no senior doctor around. The H.O. took someone's mobile phone and called a senior doctor having himself seen a Rabies case for the first time.
Everyone was now just waiting for the doctor to arrive. Nobody knew what to do. The patient had relaxed now and was lying with his eyes closed. I started scaring a friend saying that I had accidentally touched him and moved towards her. We started discussing whatever we knew about Rabies. The friend I was scaring was nowhere to be seen although she is the first one to see cases.
The Doctor arrived and prescribed three injections which at the most would have slowed the progress of the disease and may be prolonged his life by a day or two. The guys went to get the injection but came back empty handed saying they didn't have Rs. 3500 which was the cost of the injection. I told them to call someone to bring it from home and he just looked at me. I guess it was too big an amount to even be there at home. Everyone had a lump in the throat. It was just too sad. The patient maybe heard about the price and just got up and started walking away angrily saying it's ok if he dies at least their money would be saved. No one could believe what suffering they were witnessing. He was transferred to a bigger hospital to let them handle it from here. Admitting him was a big risk to take. Anything could happen. He walked away somehow and lied down outside. His family standing around him.
He had a life of a few days in an inhumanely horrible state.
We started discussing such emotionally wrenching problems in medicine. How can anyone not be affected seeing someone like this? Such things really sometime force you think about the suffering in the world. And it's sad. Very sad.
[Rabies is hundred per cent fatal if contracted. Do NOT take chances with dogs in general and aggressive dogs in particular. In the case of a bit or scratch, wash the wound as soon as possible with soap and water and contact doctor immediately. It could be the difference between life and a very painful death.]
Time: 10:00 a.m.
All the students were hanging around. Some talking bout the journals. Some bout the case. Some just rubbish. Thinking it would be just another day in the O.P.D
But then I saw two guys bringing in a semiconscious guy in. It's not what you see everyday but still what could it be? I thought. Must be some drunkard.
Out of curiosity I went to see him being shown to the H.O. The guys said a dog had bitten him last night. An alarm went off in my head. Could it be rabies? Everyone thought so. The patient started having jerky contractions of the whole body. I don't think it is painful for the patient but it certainly is for anyone watching a person not being able to control his own body shaking vigorously. Then it stopped again and he went into his semiconscious state again. They showed the wound. Two or three lacerations on the shoulder. By now everyone was sure it was rabies.
A sense of urgency and a bit of fear went through. The H.O. took the B.P. while we were just asking the rest of the history. Just then the patient started moaning for water. The voice had such pain that we would have given him water even if he meant going thirsty. A friend of mine rushed to get her bottle, while the rest stood wondering that how can a rabies patient ask for water, they are supposed to be afraid of water. But the short history gave the answer. He had not yet reached the stage of Hydrophobia. What happens is every time the patient drinks water the swallowing muscles contract very painfully. This is what brings about the fear in the patient. The fear is so much that even seeing or hearing water can start the contractions.
I ran to stop my friend from getting water. She reluctantly agreed (the moaning was very bad). On asking, the guys said whenever he tried to drink water since the previous night he had attacks of contractions all over the body with his tongue stretched out.
Now there was another fear among us. There is a rare chance that rabies may be secreted in the sweat and may get transmitted. Now some of us had touched him before knowing he had rabies. They started washing their hands with soap and spirit. Others started asking each other if they've touched him just to be safe. of course this was a bit too much but you can't take risks with rabies and also the atmosphere in the room was very tense. There was panic among most as there was no senior doctor around. The H.O. took someone's mobile phone and called a senior doctor having himself seen a Rabies case for the first time.
Everyone was now just waiting for the doctor to arrive. Nobody knew what to do. The patient had relaxed now and was lying with his eyes closed. I started scaring a friend saying that I had accidentally touched him and moved towards her. We started discussing whatever we knew about Rabies. The friend I was scaring was nowhere to be seen although she is the first one to see cases.
The Doctor arrived and prescribed three injections which at the most would have slowed the progress of the disease and may be prolonged his life by a day or two. The guys went to get the injection but came back empty handed saying they didn't have Rs. 3500 which was the cost of the injection. I told them to call someone to bring it from home and he just looked at me. I guess it was too big an amount to even be there at home. Everyone had a lump in the throat. It was just too sad. The patient maybe heard about the price and just got up and started walking away angrily saying it's ok if he dies at least their money would be saved. No one could believe what suffering they were witnessing. He was transferred to a bigger hospital to let them handle it from here. Admitting him was a big risk to take. Anything could happen. He walked away somehow and lied down outside. His family standing around him.
He had a life of a few days in an inhumanely horrible state.
We started discussing such emotionally wrenching problems in medicine. How can anyone not be affected seeing someone like this? Such things really sometime force you think about the suffering in the world. And it's sad. Very sad.
[Rabies is hundred per cent fatal if contracted. Do NOT take chances with dogs in general and aggressive dogs in particular. In the case of a bit or scratch, wash the wound as soon as possible with soap and water and contact doctor immediately. It could be the difference between life and a very painful death.]
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