A Third US rabies survivor

A third person in the United States has survived clinical rabies without having antiviral inoculations immediately after becoming infected. The 8 year old girl, from California was treated at the University of California Davis Children's Hospital.

The girl was probably infected in April 2011 after a scratch from a feral cat near her elementary school in Humboldt County, North California. Not knowing about the risks, post exposure prophylaxis was not sought, and the animal was never traced.

Symptoms started out with stomachaches, and back and neck pain, and at first flu or appendicitis was suspected. However, she rapidly developed severe muscle weakness and collapsed. She was flown to the University of California Davis Medical Center where, almost a week later, doctors determined that she had contracted rabies. Rabies was confirmed by the Centers for Disease Control on May 6th

Nurses at the hospital thought her chances were slim when she arrived at the pediatric intensive care unit, giving her a 5 percent chance to live. However, from the very beginning, she had a very rapid, robust immune response to her infection, thought to be a significant contributing factor to her survival.

She was treated according to the Milwaukee protocol, placed in a drug-induced coma as she received anti-viral medications. She spent two weeks in intensive care undergoing the treatments, is now recovering in the hospital's general pediatric unit and is expected to go home soon.

Summarised by Louise Taylor from news reports in The Huffington Post, CBS news, and The Journal, Humboldt County.