One Big Scare

I had a big scare one day when I found my nephew accidentally playing and licking my pet shih tzu's toy. Although my pet dog was vaccinated against rabies, I was still on a panic mode because there are incidences of vaccine failures. Although rabies is mostly transmitted through dog/cat bites or scratches, I was thinking of that teeny-weeny chance of that virus thriving on inanimate objects for about 1-2 hours (especially if my dog played with it prior to my nephew-licking-the-toy incident). Well, it happened early in the morning and I didn't see my dog playing with it so I was in a way relieved. I also consulted my MD friend who was an Infectious Disease Consultant and she recommended a pre-exposure vaccination against rabies (instead) for my nephew...which was a good idea. And that calmed me down. I immediately gave him VERORAB on that same day (Day 0) and then he got 2 more shots on Day 7 and Day 28.

My other MD friend suggested to just observe my dog for any behavioral changes... and of course after 10 days, my dog was still sane. Thank God! Good thing also my nephew didn't suffer from any loose bowel movement because of that incident.

Now I just have to remember to give my nephew a booster shot after 1 year and subsequent boosters every 5 years. These pre-exposure shots will serve as protection for him in case he gets bitten by a rabid dog. Depending on the timing of the dog bite, he might get fewer post-exposure shots or nothing at all. An additional injection of Rabies Immunoglobulin (which is quite expensive) is also prevented.