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Regarding Rabies
Today street dog suddenly walked on my brother foot and he has hangnail , he is not sure that he got scratch or saliva through his hangnail, I touched immediately to his foot after some time I touched my mouth with same hand , do I need rabies vaccination
Answers (19)
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Only a dog walking over intact skin is not a rabies exposure. Rabies needs saliva or a bite/scratch on broken skin or mucosa. A hangnail is broken skin, so if his paw or your hand carried fresh saliva there, I treat it as Category II and vaccinate. Touching your own mouth with a hand that had no visible saliva is not risk. Wash the hangnail well with soap and water. If in doubt about saliva contact, start anti-rabies vaccine within 24-48 hours - it is harmless and settles the question.
Next Steps
Wash the hangnail with soap and running water for 15 minutes. If there was any chance of saliva on it, take the anti-rabies vaccine schedule (day 0, 3, 7, 28). Consult me on Practo or at Synergy Multispeciality Hospital, Miraj if you want the exposure category assessed properly.
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Based on what you described, you do not need rabies vaccination just because you touched your brotherâs foot and later touched your mouth.
Rabies is transmitted when infected animal saliva directly contacts broken skin or a mucous membrane.
Indirect contact such as touching your brotherâs foot and then touching your mouth is not considered a rabies exposure. Rabies virus does not normally spread this way.
The important question is your brother's foot: if the dog actually scratched/broke his skin or saliva definitely contacted an open hangnail/wound, your brother should be assessed for rabies PEP promptly. If there was no scratch, bite, or saliva contact with the hangnail/open skin, there is generally no rabies exposure.
Next Steps
For reassurance, wash your hands and mouth normally. You don't need to get vaccinated because of this indirect contact.
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Rabies virus can't stay alive outside host for longer duration. So you don't have to worry about rabies. You wouldn't need a vaccination. But avoid such incidents in future.
Next Steps
feel free to consult me on practo if you have any further queries
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