What is the pathophysiology of rabies?
Rabies is a zoonotic viral infection. Muscles get inoculated with the virus through the bite of a rabid dog. The virus then uses its glycoproteins to attach to nicotinic acetylcholine receptors at the neuromuscular junction form where it is taken up into the motor end plate. It then travels in a retrograde fashion all the way up to ganglia and nerve roots (accounting for prodromal symptoms such as neuralgia and hypoesthesia). It can also travel to brain and cause encephalitis.
Pathophysiology of Rabies • A rabid animal bites a human being or human comes in contact with the infected saliva of a rapid animal by any other means. • Rabies virus begins replicating in the muscle at the site of bite. • Virus binds to nicotinic acetylcholine receptors in neuromuscular junctions. It infects nerves in the peripheral nervous system and moves by retrograde transport. • Viral replicates in dorsal root ganglion and travels up to spinal cord in to the brain. • Encephalitis, inflammation of brain parenchyma, may prove fatal. • Virus spreads to glands and lymph nodes ultimately spreading in all organs.
