Rabies is a deadly virus that kills over 55,000 people worldwide, including a few people in the United States every year. Those that contract the virus must start the vaccination shot process within the first 24 hours, which will prevent the onset of rabies. Rabies symptoms usually appear within one to three months, but they can appear as soon as one week to as long as one year. Once rabies symptoms appear, it’s too late for the vaccine shots to do any good. Those who are not vaccinated immediately can count on a 100% chance of dying a slow and agonizing death, usually within a week’s time. No one in recorded medical history has survived rabies without vaccination. That is, until the year 2004, when Jeanna Giese became the world’s first survivor of rabies without vaccination.
Jeanna had picked up a bat which was in her hometown church to take it outside when it sunk its sharp teeth into her finger and wouldn’t let go. Flinging the bat off her hand, she carefully cleaned the wound and thought nothing more of it. About a month later, she was having double vision (a strong sign of rabies), fatigue, nausea and numbness. When told about the bat bite, her pediatrician immediately suspected rabies. He promptly had her transferred to the Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin.
Desperate Measures
There, Dr. Rodney Willoughby put her in a drug-induced coma and on life support. During this time, she was given a medley of anti-virals, in the hope that while her brain was shut down, her immune system could fight off the virus. Dr. Willoughby knew that the rabies virus “hijacked” the brains of its victims by scrambling its signals, but leaving their brains undamaged, killing them through organ failure. Jeanna’s parents agreed to this radical, never-before-tried treatment.
After six days, Jeanna was brought out of the coma. She had beaten the rabies virus, but at a tremendous cost. She had to go through the long, slow process of re-learning how to talk, walk and eat. She made gradual but steady progress and was released from the hospital after 11 weeks. She continued to improve, leading a productive life as a college graduate with a degree in Biology, eventually marrying and becoming the mother of twins.
Deadly Condition
We all have a condition far more deadly than rabies. It is our sinful state before a righteous and holy God. No matter how hard we try, no matter how “good” we may think we are, God sees us this way: “We are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses [good works] are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities [sins], like the wind, have taken us away” (Isaiah 64:66But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away. (Isaiah 64:6)). What a dreadful, hopeless state to be in! Because of this sinful condition, we cannot enter into God’s presence, but are destined for “the blackness of darkness forever” (Jude 13). But wait! There is good news! God, who is “not willing that any should perish” (2 Peter 3:9), says, “Deliver him from going down to the pit: I have found a ransom” (Job 33:2424Then he is gracious unto him, and saith, Deliver him from going down to the pit: I have found a ransom. (Job 33:24)). Who is this ransom? We are not left to question or wonder, but are told, “Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the Just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened [made alive] by the Spirit” (1 Peter 3:18). Because God is satisfied with Jesus’ death on Calvary’s cross for our sins (He was and is the “just,” perfect, sinless One), we can now be brought to God. But how? What does God want from us? His Word declares, “Repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ” (Acts 20:2121Testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. (Acts 20:21)). “Repentance toward God” means that we must take sides with God against ourselves — we have all sinned against God and deserve His judgment, BUT God will forgive us our sins when we believe by faith that the Lord Jesus died on the cross for our sins and that He has made peace with God for us.
Hope Comes With a Price Tag
Dr. Willoughby’s stunning, never-before-achieved cure offered hope to other rabies victims around the world. It was the first step in a long learning process on how to treat unvaccinated rabies victims. His treatment became known as the Milwaukee protocol, and it has helped to save other lives. Of 33 attempts using the Milwaukee protocol, four have survived the virus, though only one was unvaccinated. Even though two rid themselves of the virus, they died during rehabilitation. The other two are a 15-year-old boy from Brazil (same age as Jeanna was) and a girl from Qatar.
A lot has been learned through these cases. They now know that they don’t have to put someone in a coma, but can simply sedate them. They also now know when a case is beyond treatment, and when there’s a good chance of recovery. The best prevention for getting rabies is, of course, to not get bitten by an infected animal. It is critical that those who own cats or dogs get them regularly vaccinated. Most people that contract rabies in the United States do so from being bitten by their pet dog or cat. Never approach a wild animal that seems “tame” or unafraid of humans, is acting aggressive, or is displaying strange behavior. The most common carriers of rabies in wildlife are: bats, raccoons, foxes, coyotes and skunks.
There are also some unexpected ways to become infected with rabies. It is possible to inhale the virus. Those who explore caves where there is a large amount of bat droppings infected with the virus can inhale it, as can those who work in laboratories with large amounts of the virus. This is very rare: Only four people were infected this way in the United States from 1950 to 1980. Two were laboratory workers, two were cave explorers, and one person became infected after a cornea transplant. In 2004, one organ donor managed to pass on the disease after his organs were donated to three people. After the liver and kidney transplants, all three people died from the disease. It was later discovered that the organ donor had been bitten by a bat.
As recently as 2013, another organ recipient died of rabies. The donor died in 2011 after agreeing to donate his liver, heart and kidneys. The other three recipients have been treated with the full complement of rabies vaccine to prevent the disease.
Rabies is an expensive disease to treat. The vaccine-immunoglobulin package costs $1,200 to $2,000 in developed nations and $100 to $300 in developing nations, which is often too costly for many people in parts of Africa and Asia. Giese’s treatment cost about $800,000, according to Willoughby.
Still, he made a most interesting observation: “I think it’s an obligation,” Willoughby said. “If you trip upon something that makes an untreatable disease treatable, how can you walk away from it?”
This is exactly how we, who have had our sin-debt paid for by trusting in the shed blood of the Lord Jesus on Calvary’s cross feel! There is a sure and certain cure for having our sins forgiven before a holy and just God. The price that the Lord Jesus had to pay was far greater than the cost of treating rabies. “Christ Jesus: who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: but made Himself of no reputation, and took upon Him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: and being found in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross” (Philippians 2:5-85Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: 6Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: 7But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: 8And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. (Philippians 2:5‑8)). All of this He suffered for you and me — how can we not tell others of the good news of salvation? What will your answer be? Will you accept Him now as your Lord and Savior?
Disease can be subtle and sudden as rabies shows. But rabies isn’t the only hidden cause of disease-borne horror. Find out more in A Little Child of Eight.