A guy helped his girlfriend clean her wound, but was diagnosed with rabies? Beware of level 3 exposure!

Recently, #Boy helped his girlfriend suck on her wound and was diagnosed with level 3 exposure# became a hot topic!

On October 14, a young man in Nanchang, Jiangxi, caused heated discussion among netizens because he used his mouth to clean the wound of his girlfriend who was scratched by a stray cat. The doctor told him that this was a level 3 exposure (the highest level of exposure to rabies virus).

What is Level 3 Exposure?

As we all know, rabies is a disease with a mortality rate of almost 100%. The so-called "rabies exposure" refers to being bitten, scratched, or licked by a rabid, suspected rabid, or unsure rabies host animal. Mucous membranes or broken skin, open wounds, and mucous membranes come into contact with animal saliva or tissue that may be infected with the rabies virus.

Rabies exposure is divided into three levels according to the method and degree, and each level has corresponding prevention and treatment methods.

Experts remind that it is not advisable to clean wounds with your mouth! The level of exposure to rabies virus does not only depend on the degree of skin lesions, but is related to the number of nerves in the exposed area. The mouth has dense nerves and is close to the brain, so the risk of infection is higher than that of the limbs and other parts after exposure.

If you can't find soap to clean it, you can also use clean water for basic rinsing, and then seek medical attention and get vaccinated in time to reduce the risk of rabies virus infection.

What to do after level 3 exposure?

After the first level 3 exposure, the wound should be treated promptly, and immunomodulators and rabies vaccines should be injected.

The correct way to treat wounds is as follows↓↓↓

In short, rinse first, then disinfect (the sooner the better):

rinse

1. Use soapy water (or other weak alkaline cleaners, professional flushing fluids) and running water at a certain pressure to alternately and thoroughly rinse all bites and scratches for about 15 minutes.

2. Then wash the wound with saline.

3. Finally, use sterile absorbent cotton to absorb any remaining liquid in the wound to avoid leaving any soapy water or detergent in the wound.

When flushing deeper wounds, a syringe or special flushing equipment can be used to irrigate and flush the inside of the wound to ensure that it is comprehensive and thorough.

disinfect

After flushing, apply diluted iodine tincture or other skin and mucous membrane disinfectants with virus inactivation effect (such as quaternary ammonium disinfectants, etc.) to the wound (if the wound has a lot of broken tissue, it should be cleaned first).

Preventing other infections

According to the contamination or infection of the wound, antibiotics should be used rationally to reduce other infections besides rabies virus. In particular, it is necessary to comprehensively judge whether to use tetanus vaccine and its passive immunization preparations based on the nature of the wound and the previous immunization history.

Don't do this when you are in close contact with your dog↓↓↓

Image source: WHO

In addition, people often ask: If I am bitten by a turtle, do I need to get a rabies vaccine?

In this centralized Q&A, non-mammals such as birds, fish, insects, lizards, turtles and snakes will not be infected or spread rabies, so exposure to these animals does not require rabies post-exposure immunization or rabies vaccination. (Also, if you are bitten or scratched by a person, you do not need to worry about being infected with the rabies virus and do not need to be vaccinated against rabies.)

Planning and production

Source: People's Daily Online Science Popularization Comprehensive Youth Zhejiang

Editor: Yinuo