UK woman turned away from A&E twice before being diagnosed with rabies; dies in hospital - Polidicks

[url]http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-kent-18192494[/url] [quote=BBC News][b]A woman with rabies twice visited an accident and emergency unit in Kent before she was diagnosed and admitted to a London hospital.[/b] She went to Darent Valley Hospital in Dartford before she was admitted to the Hospital for Tropical Diseases. The trust said the UK was rabies-free and staff would be unlikely to consider rabies unless a patient reported wild animal contact in an at-risk country. Doctors responded to information given by the patient at the time, it added. The woman, who has not been identified and is still receiving treatment, had been bitten by a dog in south Asia. In a statement, the Kent NHS trust said some hospital staff members were being vaccinated against the potentially fatal disease. [b]Hospital probe[/b] It said: "Although there are no cases of rabies being passed by human-to-human contact, the five members of staff that came into close contact with the patient are being vaccinated as a precautionary measure." The trust also said an investigation had begun into the circumstances around the patient's attendance at the emergency department. It said it was also working closely with the Health Protection Agency (HPA). Rabies is usually transferred through saliva from the bite of an infected animal, with dogs being the most common transmitter of rabies to humans. More than 55,000 people are thought to die from rabies each year, with most cases occurring in south and south-east Asia. Professor David Brown, a rabies expert at the HPA, said only four cases of human rabies acquired from dogs, all from abroad, had been identified in the UK since 2000.[/quote] This just came through on the ticker: [quote][b]Woman who was being treated for rabies in London has died, University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust says[/b][/quote] The UK is meant to be rabies-free so it's understandable that they didn't diagnose it but still, what a fuck up

My mother saw this and got mad as hell. I then told her that if they had tested for rabies, and she'd died of tetanus or some shit, they'd be in just as much shit for testing for something redundant.

disregard this post misread this.

Isn't, like, the only way to test for rabies to do a postmortem brain biopsy?

...wait what? Britian is rabies free? Who thought that was even remotely true?! I know it's not the biggest country in the world, but there's wild animals, and as long as there are wild animals there is a chance for rabies. I have a feeling the wrongful death/negligence lawsuit her family will undoubtedly file is going to be open and shut.

A&E is a popular TV network over here in the US. You can understand my confusion when I opened the thread. She just wanted one last interview :(

-he fixed his post-

[QUOTE=TestECull;36110379]...wait what? Britian is rabies free? Who thought that was even remotely true?! I know it's not the biggest country in the world, but there's wild animals, and as long as there are wild animals there is a chance for rabies. I have a feeling the wrongful death/negligence lawsuit her family will undoubtedly file is going to be open and shut.[/QUOTE] they must all be hiding in the rabies cave

[QUOTE=RagamuffinIIII;36110344]Uh, hospitals don't reuse dirty needles...[/QUOTE] Person feels sick (they have tetanus), they got to hospital and get tested for it. Ta-da, nowhere there did the hospital not using dirty needles have anything to do with them getting tetanus.

[QUOTE=Elecbullet;36110352]Isn't, like, the only way to test for rabies to do a postmortem brain biopsy?[/QUOTE] Well you can diagnose it after symptoms appear, but that's about as useful as a post mortem brain biopsy anyways, since when you display symptoms you have a 1% survival rate. Basically, if they think you have rabies, you need to be treated for it whether they can confirm that hypothesis or not.

[QUOTE=TestECull;36110379]...wait what? Britian is rabies free? Who thought that was even remotely true?! I know it's not the biggest country in the world, but there's wild animals, and as long as there are wild animals there is a chance for rabies. I have a feeling the wrongful death/negligence lawsuit her family will undoubtedly file is going to be open and shut.[/QUOTE] [quote]The UK has not had a case of Rabies from a dog bite for more than a century.[6] However, a conservation worker died after contracting the disease from a bat in Scotland in 2002.[7] and in 2012, a case was confirmed in London; the person had been bitten in South Asia before returning to the UK.[8] On May 28 2012, the woman died in London.[9][/quote] I'd say that's pretty damn close to being Rabies free mate.

Basically, if she was already displaying symptoms, then she was already dead. The hospital isn't to blame for that.

[QUOTE=TestECull;36110379]...wait what? Britian is rabies free? Who thought that was even remotely true?! I know it's not the biggest country in the world, but there's wild animals, and as long as there are wild animals there is a chance for rabies. I have a feeling the wrongful death/negligence lawsuit her family will undoubtedly file is going to be open and shut.[/QUOTE] They know that the same way they no smallpox has been eraditcated. There's been no known cases, human or animal for long enough that the chances of catching it are minimal. Of course there's always the chance, but if the illness could be very time sensitive, as it very well could be, they'd only want to test for things which seem plausible at first. Then they'd open up to other tests.

I did hear about some experimental induced coma treatment that seemed promising.

[QUOTE=Elecbullet;36110456]I'd say that's pretty damn close to being Rabies free mate.[/QUOTE] I dunno, I'd consider "rabies free" to mean that rabies is impossible to contract inside the country because the country is "rabies free". That Scottish dude probably wasn't feeling too lucky.

She's have probably ended up being left waiting till she died even if she wasn't turned away.

[QUOTE=TestECull;36110379]...wait what? Britian is rabies free? Who thought that was even remotely true?! I know it's not the biggest country in the world, but there's wild animals, and as long as there are wild animals there is a chance for rabies. I have a feeling the wrongful death/negligence lawsuit her family will undoubtedly file is going to be open and shut.[/QUOTE] Wild animals can't have something that's not been introduced. Every animal brought into the country is checked, there's a place near me where they have imported beavers in quarantine for a while to check that they are clear before they are introduced to the wild. It's really, really rare for a rabies case in the UK.

[QUOTE=RayvenQ;36110525]She's have probably ended up being left waiting till she died even if she wasn't turned away.[/QUOTE] The best they could have done was try to make her comfortable. However, that's pretty hard to do when the delirium and paralysis sets in. [editline]28th May 2012[/editline] [QUOTE=Elecbullet;36110474]I did hear about some experimental induced coma treatment that seemed promising.[/QUOTE] "Promising" means that it has a 20% success rate, versus 1%. It's a lot better, but still nothing to place your money on.

[QUOTE=yawmwen;36110562]The best they could have done was try to make her comfortable. However, that's pretty hard to do when the delirium and paralysis sets in.[/QUOTE] When I had a serious speed motorbike accident, it took 6 hours for them to see me, I guess I can just be glad i didn't have any internal bleeding or I'd have probably died waiting.

[QUOTE=RayvenQ;36110525]She's have probably ended up being left waiting till she died even if she wasn't turned away.[/QUOTE] Most people do. Waiting times are ridiculous.

Wait what - rabbies free? Since when is any country rabbies free.

[QUOTE=wraithcat;36111405]Wait what - rabbies free? Since when is any country rabbies free.[/QUOTE] I think every country is rabbies free considering I've never heard of, nor ever seen, a rabby.

[QUOTE=TestECull;36110379]...wait what? Britian is rabies free? Who thought that was even remotely true?! I know it's not the biggest country in the world, but there's wild animals, and as long as there are wild animals there is a chance for rabies. I have a feeling the wrongful death/negligence lawsuit her family will undoubtedly file is going to be open and shut.[/QUOTE] The UK has some insanely strict measures to prevent it, its bordering on paranoia but it works. From what I understand the measures range from quarantining any animal that comes into the UK and some measures in the channel tunnel to stop rats running through.

[QUOTE=TestECull;36110379]I know it's not the biggest country in the world, but there's wild animals, and as long as there are wild animals there is a chance for rabies. I have a feeling the wrongful death/negligence lawsuit her family will undoubtedly file is going to be open and shut.[/QUOTE] Nope. Diseases can be wiped out mate.

Rabies has no known treatment or cure. She was doomed from the time she was displaying symptoms.

Thank god I have a 20 year rabies shot.

[QUOTE=RayvenQ;36110658]When I had a serious speed motorbike accident, it took 6 hours for them to see me, I guess I can just be glad i didn't have any internal bleeding or I'd have probably died waiting.[/QUOTE] I turned up with chest pains and difficulty breathing, and the A&E receptionist told me I'd have to wait for the out-of-hours GP instead of being admitted. Thankfully the out-of-hours GP's receptionist told her that was stupid. It annoys me that getting into hospital when you actually need to is frustratingly difficult sometimes, which is a shame because I and most people I know who've been in hospital received good care when they finally got there.

I would make a comment about socialized medicine but I am too tired to argue today.

[QUOTE=LF9000;36112088]but I am too tired to argue today.[/QUOTE] Good.