More than half of U.S. dog owners expressed concerns about vaccinating their dogs, including against rabies, according to a new study published Saturday in the journal Vaccine. The study comes as anti-vaccine sentiments among humans have exploded in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Pets are now often considered to be a member of the family, and their health-care decisions are weighed with the same gravity. But the consequences of not vaccinating animals can be just as dire as humans. Dogs, for example, are responsible for 99% of rabies cases globally. Rabies, which is often transmitted via a bite, is almost always fatal for animals and people once clinical signs appear. A drop in rabies vaccination could constitute a serious public health threat.
In the new study, the authors surveyed 2,200 people and found 53% had some concern about the safety, efficacy or necessity of canine vaccines. Nearly 40% were concerned that vaccines could cause dogs to develop autism, a theory without any scientific merit.
I never watched it and even I know about Old Yeller. This is just animal cruelty with how well known the disease is.
edit: Also isn’t Rabies also a disease that targets the brain? Like the mother of all trades. Autism or Rabies /s (and yes I know one of those wouldn’t even happen)
Rabies doesn’t just “target” the brain. It fucking nukes that shit. Untreated rabies is one of the scariest diseases that exists. Once you’re feeling symptoms, you are 99% fucked to a slow incredibly awful death.
More like 99.99999999999999999999999999999…well, you get the point. In all of human history, there have only been a handful of confirmed survivors of rabies. It’s the most lethal disease known to man.
because the AR15 and the attack dog aren’t enough danger to have around the house, they also need rabid attack dogs… it makes sense… it’s an upgrade to home security…
There should definitely be laws about vaccinating dogs against rabies.
I think there are? At least I think there is in PA.
Every state in the union except Kansas has a law on the books, though New York seems to have some technicality going on.
http://powershotsmn.com/rabies_laws_by_state.html
Many do allow medical exemption though, so these nuts have a loophole in many states.
Thankfully my dog only really interacts with other dogs at places that require vaccinations.
I have extended family members who have fake COVID vaccine cards. How tough do you think it will be to fake a dog’s status, or even find an insane veterinarian who is willing to sign on the dotted line for a little moolah?
This is a problem that’s going to solve itself as soon as their dogs get rabies.
These people are more inbred then a pug
Sometimes I really hate it here
Oh for fuck’s sake…
I said the exact same thing. People are stupid.
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…is almost always fatal for animals and people…
That’s an understatement. I think there are only one or two documented cases ever where someone started to show symptoms of rabies and lived. If I recall correctly those who did live were given massive doses of the vaccine as the moment symptoms were noticed and were mentally incapacitated the rest of their lives.
Not quite, the vaccine is only part of it. The Milwaukee Protocol involves putting the patient into a coma and dropping their body temp so low that the virus can’t spread (should note that low core temps are why marsupials like opossums are damn near immune) because once symptoms are showing it’s actively turning your brain to mush. Between the virus already being present and the coma, brain damage is basically guaranteed despite survival.
Iirc only 29 people recorded as surviving. We should note that rabies has a written record going back to the start of writing. 29, in 4 millennia.
Rabies is scary as fuck y’all. You can get this shit from getting an organ transplant from someone who never knew they were infected after being bitten by a bat while camping last year.
https://youtu.be/kxBIJvNHZg4?si=2MjzGA2caKFIcBcM here’s a video that’s pretty disturbing if you’re wanting to see what dying of rabies looks like. Spoilers, it’s awful.
You can get this shit from getting an organ transplant from someone who never knew they were infected after being bitten by a bat while camping last year.
Reminds me of my favourite episode of Scrubs
There’s also a lot of disagreement on if the Milwaukee Protocol works or if it’s something else entirely that we’re just starting to figure out, and if it’s worth the risks of things like lock-in syndrome if it won’t do anything helpful for most people. Radiolab has a pretty interesting episode about it all
There is radiolab episode about this, highly recommended. A girl survived who was bitten on her toe by inducing a coma and giving her the vaccine. The idea was that slowed the death march of the rabies to the brain and allowed the body enough time to mount a defense. The treatment had not had a very good success rate.
Rabies should just be considered 100% deadly. There are edge cases where the healthcare community has some guesses as to why the patient survived, but the absolute sure way to survive is to get vaccinated ASAP after exposure.
I pay $10 a year to license my dog. My dog has to be rabies vaccinated to get his license. He’s issued a tag with an ID#. The vet has to report his vaccine info. I get a certificate with a vaccine number too. I suppose I’m fortunate to live in an area with this as a requirement but I think it’s pretty easy to get around this too. I live in a metro area. I suppose in more rural areas, licensing and registration of dogs isn’t the norm.
This would be decried as authoritarianism in many part of the US
That’s true I think in most of America but it’s voluntary, basically. You’re supposed to do it but there is no enforcement until your dog gets loose or bites someone and someone asked about your license.
I can precisely follow the Stupid Logic and I hate it.
Meanwhile I was thrilled when my vet got the bunny vaccine, which had to be specially imported under special rules from Europe. And I was even more thrilled that a US made alternative just became available because it doesn’t involve growing live virus in bun buns. Hell no we don’t want RHD2, and IMHO you would have to be insane to withhold that vaccine from your bun buns.
Buns don’t get rabies vaccines but I’m perfectly happy to vaccinate my cat against whatever the vet suggests.
this headline is meant to get a rise out of readers. are these numbers greater than they used to be? we can’t say they’re on the rise without a prior measurement
Maybe don’t stop reading at the headline then, or better yet read the actual fucking paper they reference.
If you truly cared the answers are there
the number is not in the article op posted. op didn’t post a link to the paper, my comment is on the article not the paper.
your tone sucks. people don’t deserve to be spoken to that way and your actions have consequences. do better.
Know the common carrier of rabies in your area.
Whelp, that finishes my internetting for the day.
