The Rabies virus explained using the lyrics from Pink Floyd’s album- The Dark side of the Moon.
“Very hard to explain why you’re mad
Even if you’re not mad “(Speak to me), correctly places the symptoms that follow when the Rabies virus (RV) takes over an infected person’s body. Did you know RV attacks our brain? RV is a zoonotic disease (transmitted from animals to humans), with over 99% human deaths caused by RV carried by dogs. This virus attacks the nervous system inducing crazy psychosis, senseless phobias, madness. These Phobias are a result of the progressing virus, which begins with a bite or wound coming in contact with the saliva of the infected animal (dog).
“And all you touch and all you see
Is all your life will ever be”(breathe), because once you come in contact with the virus, it travels to the peripheral nervous system (PNS) through neuromuscular junctions or sensory nerves, attacking the neurons. And from there it goes right to the central nervous system (CNS), at which point the damage becomes more or less irreversible.
“And there’s someone in my head but it’s not me” (brain damage), “It can’t be helped but there’s a lot of it about” (Us and Them), once the virus hits the CNS of which the brain is part of, there is a increased presence of negri bodies and inflammation. Other symptoms include restlessness, insomnia, agitation and,
“All that you touch and all that you see, And all that you do and all that you say (Eclipse)”, gets enveloped in confusion and hallucinations.
“Dig that hole, forget the sun..
And when at last the work is done…You race towards an early grave” (Breathe). Development of photo-phobia and hydrophobia is also observed. And once the virus has taken hold, it is fatal and the only treatment is supportive to ease the symptoms. “God only knows it’s not what we would choose to do.”(Us and Them)
But not all is despair, with the right vaccinations given periodically to the dog population, this apocalyptic disorder can be kept in check.
“The time is gone, the song is over, thought I’d something more to say” (Time).
References:
Farahtaj, F., Alizadeh, L., Gholami, A., Tahamtan, A., Shirian, S., Fazeli, M., … & Ghaemi, A. (2019). Natural infection with rabies virus: A histopathological and immunohistochemical study of human brains. Osong public health and research perspectives, 10(1), 6.
WHO, What is rabies?. Retrieved from- https://www.who.int/rabies/about/en/
