Little Girl Starts Rabies Shots After Dog Bites Her At School

By: Zac Schultz

Updated: Thu 2:27 PM, Jun 05, 2003

The kids at St. Paul Lutheran School in Stevens Point are staying on the playground for now. That's because a 4th grader was bit by a dog while running laps on sidewalk during gym class Tuesday.

The girl was running with her classmates when a woman with a dog walked down the block.

Principal Ronal Thies says her was told the dog was on a leash, but it wasn't long enough. The dog bit the girl on her side under her arm. The bite pierced her skin and tore her shirt.

According to Thies, the girl told the woman the dog had bit her, and the woman walked away before the teacher could get there. The girl got the first of her rabies shots that night.

The manager of the Portage County Humane Society says until they know the dog has been vaccinated; the girl needs to get the shots. If the woman comes forward and the dog is clean, the girl doesn't have to get any more shots.

If the dog hasn't been vaccinated, it needs to be quarantined for observation for 10 days. After that, a veterinarian can release the animal back to its owner.

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What is Rabies?

Rabies virus causes an acute encephalitis in all warm-blooded animals.
All mammals are susceptible to the rabies virus.
The animals most known for carrying the virus include: raccoons, skunks, foxes, coyotes.

Transmission of Rabies

Transmission of rabies virus usually begins when the infected saliva of a host is passed to an uninfected animal.
Various routes of transmission include the eyes, nose, mouth, aerosol transmission, and corneal transplantations.

Symptoms of Rabies

First symptoms of rabies in humans may include flu-like symptoms: fever, headache, or malaise.
Other symptoms may include cerebral dysfunction, anxiety, confusion, abnormal behavior, hallucinations, and insomnia.
The acute period of the disease typically ends after 2 to 10 days.
Once clinical signs of rabies appear, the disease is nearly always fatal.
There is only six documented cases of human survival from clinical rabies.
Disease prevention can be done following a bite from an infected animal, being injected with a vaccine (postexposure prophylaxis).
- Every year an estimated 18,000 people receive preexposure prophylaxis.
- Every year an estimated 40,000 people receive postexposure prophylaxis.