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The girl who survived rabies is about 15 year old, Jeanna Giese, from Wisconsin in the USA, who survived rabies thanks to an innovative and desperate treatment tried out on her by Dr. Rodney Willougby. His technique involved putting her into a deep coma allowing her body to begin an antibody response to the disease that let Jeanna gradually regained normal function. Subsequent testing of the same technique did not have such good results.

'This is a miracle' Only known rabies survivor takes steps toward recovery By MARK JOHNSON and KAWANZA NEWSON markjohnson@journalsentinel.com Posted: June 20, 2005 Third of three parts Everyone who entered Jeanna Giese's room at Children's Hospital of Wisconsin wore full isolation gear - gown, gloves, mask and plastic face shield - to avoid any chance of contracting rabies. Early on, as she lay in a coma, the precautions painted an otherworldly scene: more than a dozen friends and relatives cloaked in yellow gowns standing in a prayer circle around her bed. But on Nov. 5, a week after Jeanna began...

Buying time against rabies Teen drifts into drug-induced coma in fight for her life By MARK JOHNSON and KAWANZA NEWSON markjohnson@journalsentinel.com Posted: June 19, 2005 Second of three parts The colorless cocktail of drugs seeped through a tube into Jeanna Giese’s upper thigh, sending her on a long journey into a coma. Thus began the extraordinary effort to save her life. Lucretia Quarterman, a pediatric intensive care nurse, checked the 15-year-old girl’s vital signs and wondered whether she would ever awaken. In Jeanna’s condition, rabies was always fatal. Even if the virus didn’t kill her, she could linger in a...

Down to a prayer As rabies saps the life from a Fond du Lac teen, doctors concoct a radical strategy to save her By MARK JOHNSON and KAWANZA NEWSON markjohnson@journalsentinel.com Posted: June 18, 2005 First of three parts John and Ann Giese stood at their 15-year-old daughter's bedside, watching her deteriorate. Jeanna had arrived at Children's Hospital of Wisconsin on Oct. 18, weak, feverish, struggling to speak. When doctors questioned her, she could answer only "Yes" or "No." Her left arm, sometimes the whole left side of her body, jerked uncontrollably. Within hours, saliva was flooding her mouth. Now, approaching...