A HISTORICAL REVIEW OF THE TREATMENT OF H UMAN RABIES

A historical review of the treatment of human rabies from ancient time s up to the present is undertaken. An attempt is made to trace paralle l between the concept of the main cause of rabies in a certain period and the kind of treatment utilized. The ancient Greek goddess Artemis was considered to be a healer of rabies; they already identified wound cauterization. People of the first century A.D. knew of the infection deriving from the saliva of a rabid dog and called it virus (in Latin ). During medieval times when a magical and religious concept regardin g health was prevalent, the principal protector was called St. Humbert . During the Renaissance many experiments were carried out and new inf ormation on the disease was obtained, both were basic in opening the w ay for new findings in the future. At that time the miasmatic and cont agious theories were predominant. Pasteur strongly objected to the ide a of the spontaneity of rabies. At the end of the XIXth. century and b ased on microbial discoveries, Pasteur brought about a great scientifi c revolution as regards the possibility of treating rabies by using a vaccine. At the present time, vaccines are of the nervous type or not, and the recommended dose varies. A large-number of studies on vaccina tion have been undertaken. In Latin America the most used are those by Fuenzalida and Palacios. At present, WHO recommends the vaccine made by cell culture.