Posted on 11/26/2004 5:40:48 PM PST by neverdem
FReepmail me if you want on or off my health and science ping list.
"Am I the only one to remember a similar story about 20 years ago? I swear, some kid was reported to have survived rabies back then."
I think they used black salve. Back then it could cure anything.
Edgar Allan Poe died.
:(
It is a miracle, period. Her family and friends will undoubtedly recongize it as such.
Rabid bat ping....
That's silly. It's quite likely that this treatment will prove to be successful in other cases, including those where nobody's praying. It not as if none of the families and friends of previous rabies victims prayed fervently for their recoveries. The difference in this case was the treatment, not the prayer. Did prayer somehow help lead the doctors to make the right guesses, and discover this new treatment? Could be. But once discovered, a new treatment will work without prayer.
I too think there was a case of a young boy that survived without treatment. As I recall, he was in a location where he could not receive the medication in time and they decided not start the injections when he finally did get to a medical facility because giving them that late was thought to run the risk of worstening his condition. Seems to me he was about 8 years old and the doctors then were pretty excited because they thought his blood would carry natural resistance to rabies which could then be reproduced invitro and given to others.
No there was another case. Only it was a teenage boy if I remember correctly. Also, it was more like 30 years ago. I remember the case because I was taking an experimental prophalactic vaccine while conducting parasitology research in bats. I also later went on to work for the Health Dept. and rabies was something I dealt with frequently. The case was mentioned quite often.
Seven year old boy, as I recall.
The PHT may only have stood for purified, heat treated (immunoglobulin, i.e. IgG for passive immunization, IIRC).
Now, I'm not one who bandies about the term "miracle" lightly - nor do I consider the birth of a baby to be one - that's a natural order event. However, once you study this disease, its easy to see that there is no coming back from the stage this victim is alleged to have....barring divine intervention. Unless you are one who believes that science can and will cure everything.
But, I don't doubt your consideration of the "prayer thing" to be silly. You wouldn't be the first.
The doctor was on tv and quoted as this having been a miracle; the father attributed the success to the power of prayer. I know I have been praying for this young lady as well. FYI this is the same medical complex where I had my surgery and where my OB oncologist works out of; it's known as Children's Hospital, Medical College of Wisconsin, Froedtert, and Lutheran Hospital, but it's a college/teaching/learning facility and there are some WONDERFUL people ther. God bless this young girl and please include her in your prayers!
I didn't even know Hillary went to that church!
Amen!
I don't think you know as much about neurology as you think you do. These doctors weren't just throwing darts -- they had a theoretical reason to think that the treatment might work, and it did. Anyway, time will tell, and probably not very much time. No doubt this technique will be tried again on the very next symptomatic rabies case in a developed country. Most likely, this treatment will become standard and fairly reliable.
I'm sure there were people who insisted on attributing the amazing early results from penicillin to divine intervention. But alas, it was the mold.
A report on the struggle to overcome incredible odds, and how it may forge a bond between a Willshire, Ohio man and a teenager he's never even met.
The two share a battle against a deadly disease, the one inspiring the other to fight and survive.
Last month, 15-year-old Jeanna Giese of Fond du Lac, Wisconsin was diagnosed with what would become an advanced case of rabies, almost always fatal.
So when in the past few days, she showed remarkable improvement and was taken off a respirator, her friends believed they'd seen a miracle.
Giese’s classmate Ashley Schneider says, "We feel our prayers have really been answered."
Throughout the ordeal, above her hospital bed, Jeanna's parents kept a photo of a six-year-old boy they never knew.
It was 33-years ago when Matthew Winkler, in the room above, awoke to a real nightmare.
Rabies survivor Matthew Winkler says, "It was a bat, and I screamed. Mom and dad ran upstairs and dad ripped it off my thumb."
Winkler was given a series of shots, but the bat bite infected him just the same.
Winkler says, "Back then, you get rabies, you know, plan the funeral, that's just it."
But it wasn't "it".
For whatever reason, Winkler made it through, and articles written in newspapers and medical publications were discovered by the Giese's, and embraced as a reason to fight for survival.
Winkler has kept a sense of humor about the traumatic event long ago.
He says his friends all affectionately refer to him as 'Batman'.
And he's proud of the fact his name is recorded in the Guinness Book of World Records.
Winkler says, "The only known survivor of rabies was Matthew James Winkler. Well, I'm still around, so I think they screwed up with the 'was'."
A google search provides this tidbit:
There are only three documented cases of patients recovering from rabies infection.
These were apparently treated AFTER symptoms appeared. Other literature claims 100% fatality after symptoms appear.
I doubt that it occured. I did some reading on rabies a few years ago and for those who have developed symptoms there have been only a handful of survivors. Once symptoms develop it has close to a 100% mortality rate. Those that did live were given the vaccine and had permanent disabilities afterward.
I do remember a story quite some time ago. It was in Mexico or somewhere south of there, and there was no vaccine available in time. The doctors realized that it was not the disease itself that killed, but the symptoms piled on top of each other. They decided to treat each of the symptoms as they appeared, and the boy survived.
I remember the big deal being that they treated it symptom by symptom.
See #32....and I completely understand your doubts and where they come from.
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