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Dr. Andrew Rynne
MD
Dr. Andrew Rynne

Family Physician

Exp 50 years

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Got Scratched By Street Dog. Can I Get Rabies? Any Precautions?

Dear Doctor, I got scratched by a street dog when he was trying to playfully jump on me on my left arm between wrist and elbow and on top side. The scratch did not cause explicit bleeding but a minor cut and redness is visible of about 1 inch in size.

My Queries:
1. Can I get Rabies from this?
2. Does I need to take any precaution?
3. If there is some action to be taken how soon should it be taken?

please advise?

Regards
Manish
Fri, 10 May 2013
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Infectious Diseases Specialist,  's  Response
Hi Manish,
The WHO(World Health Organization) has classified the exposure to animals into three categories as Class I, Class II, Class III.
Class I - touching of animal, feeding animal - this does not require any vaccine
Class II - nibbling on skin, minor scratches, licks on intact skin - this requires starting of vaccine and observation of dog for 10 days, if the dog is healthy, then vaccine can be stopped.
Class III - single or many scratches, licks on mouth, eyes - this requires immediate vaccine and proper cleaning of wound.
Now to answer your queries,
1. yes, you have a chance of getting rabies as that was a street dog and its vaccine status is unknown
2. Yes, you need to observe that dog for 10 days and if dog is healthy you can stop the vaccine
3. You need to go get vaccinated for rabies immediately. Rabies vaccine is given on 0, 3, 7, 14, 28 days where 0 is counted as the day of first injection.
Hope I have answered your questions.
Thank you.
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Got Scratched By Street Dog. Can I Get Rabies? Any Precautions?

Hi Manish, The WHO(World Health Organization) has classified the exposure to animals into three categories as Class I, Class II, Class III. Class I - touching of animal, feeding animal - this does not require any vaccine Class II - nibbling on skin, minor scratches, licks on intact skin - this requires starting of vaccine and observation of dog for 10 days, if the dog is healthy, then vaccine can be stopped. Class III - single or many scratches, licks on mouth, eyes - this requires immediate vaccine and proper cleaning of wound. Now to answer your queries, 1. yes, you have a chance of getting rabies as that was a street dog and its vaccine status is unknown 2. Yes, you need to observe that dog for 10 days and if dog is healthy you can stop the vaccine 3. You need to go get vaccinated for rabies immediately. Rabies vaccine is given on 0, 3, 7, 14, 28 days where 0 is counted as the day of first injection. Hope I have answered your questions. Thank you.