Happy Valentine's Day -- people suck! (Read 1110 times)

Here's a recent piece about toxoplasmosis.  I don't know about you, but I'd just as soon not deal with THAT parasite! 

Yeah, that's some crazy stuff.  Literally.  Good link.

I think my mom should be checked for critters in her brain....

Maybe we all should.  Maybe something is making us run like idiots.

Ahh...I wondered about that.   That series of shots really protects for life?  Huh...so I can go around letting strange animals bite me at will--awesome!

Sorry to chime in late, but I couldn't let this one slide.  PLEASE don't let anyone tell you that a series of rabies prophylaxis will protect you for life.  It won't.  It doesn't even completely protect you beyond that immediate exposure.  Even we veterinarians and others at high risk that are routinely rabies vaccinated need to be treated after any exposure - it just makes it a slightly less complicated process.  And we're also boostered every few years after the initial series (at least, we all should be, but that's a whole other immunological understanding/insurance issue - don't get me started   Bottom line is, I work with a fair amount of wildlife in rabies-endemic areas and have pretty common 'contact' with rabies-positive animals.  So yeah, I get a booster every couple of years, even if I have to pay for it myself.  And if I ever get truly exposed, I will go do the shots again.  It just isn't something to mess around with (though I think we're up to 4 actual survivors now!)

And on a related educational note, please don't pick up and snuggle any baby racoons, foxes, skunks, etc... no matter how cute they are (and yes, they are freakin' cute ;-)  'Cuz no matter how 99.9% medically certain I am that they are not rabid, I still have to kill them.  And that sucks.  

End of PSA - thanks for listening!