Article Source: msnbc.com
from:msnbc.comMom wants to know why soldier-son died of rabies
Seeded on Sat Sep 17, 2011 4:42 AM EDT (msnbc.com)
— Filed under: health
- msnbc.com sites & shows:
- TODAY
- Rock Center
- Nightly News
- Meet the Press
- Dateline
- Morning Joe
- Hardball
- Ed
- Maddow
- Last Word
- msnbc tv
Leave a Comment:
He didn't get the remaining shots because the vaccine was expired? EXPIRED???? And none was flown in for him? This is how we're taking care of our troops in theatre?
There's no excuse for this. And what about the two pets that were fighting with the strays, and the soldiers that had contact with the pets? Will there be any follow up with them? Is there any point at this late date, given the incubation period of rabies?
Given the undeveloped countries our troops end up, perhaps rabies vaccinations should be included in their round of shots before deployment. People who work in animal hospitals and clinics get them as precautions, soldiers should as well.
snafu
The FDA duh!
What the heck does the FDA have to do w/this? Some people just don't seem to stop the facts from getting in the way of their own rants.
There is a treatment protocol for rabies, and it's a series of shots that are started right away while they're waiting to test the animal that bit. The personnel in charge of medical supplies in the field (and I believe they'd be Army personnel) should have assessed the vaccines on hand when the soldier was bitten, and ordered more asap if some were expired. Sounds to me that when the animal tested negative for the virus, they figured they were safe and didn't need any more vaccine. Dumb move.
Although I'm not a doctor, even I can figure out that in a dog fight, a rabid dog's saliva can get intermingled with that of an uninfected dog. That dog bites someone breaking up the fight, and now that person is exposed to saliva carrying the virus. Since that can happen, better be safe than sorry and give the full course of treatment.
IMO, the Army personnel in charge screwed up twice: not ordering more vaccine immediately to replace the expired drugs, and not giving this poor soldier the full course of vaccines. My heart hurts for this poor mother who lost her son from something completely preventable.
Government Regs. & CYA Bureaucrats.