Revisão do conceito de que a raiva é sempre fatal

Abstract

The author reivews references in the literature concerning cases of cures of rabies from the time of Pasteur to date. Cases of abortive or cured rabies have been observed in various animal species especially in bats, whose recovery from the infection can no longer be doubted; in dogs, concerning which the literature mentioned above records several cases of recovery, some not well-substantiated, but others proven; and also in laboratory animals of which the best studied have been mice. Cases of recovery from rabies have frequently been observed in mice, both in those previously vaccinated and in nonvaccinated mice and those cases can even be forecasted, especially in mice that had been innoculated with small doses of virus by the peripheral route. It also includes a short account of his own findings conerning vaccinated mice that contracted rabies and recovered

In the light of the cases recorded in literature, he suggests that the thesis that rabies is always fatal needs to be revised. He emphasizes the need for further studies, principally the use of new diagnostic resources, including immunofluorescence, in order to clarify the problem of recovery from rabies(AU)