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Background and purpose: Rabies is a viral disease that is usually transferred to humans through the bites of infected animals (especially dogs). Difficult treatment and painful death in all patients makes it a major public health concern. There are some interesting points about the rabies in Traditional Medicine resources, especially in Persian Medicine. Materials and methods: In this study the book entitled Tebbe Akbari was used as an invaluable source of Persian Traditional Medicine which is a complete and practical collection about many diseases. The information about rabies was extracted from the book. Also, the latest version of National Guidelines for Rabies Control was used. Data from both sources were compared with each other including etiology, symptoms, diagnosis, and treatment. Results: Almost all points about rabies in Tebbe Akbari were found similar to the national guidelines recommended for rabies control. However, recent improvements in treatment, especially vaccination and microscopic methods in diagnosis of the disease have led to stop using traditional diagnostic methods. Conclusion: Probably more knowledge and awareness about traditional medicine books and performing evidence based studies could help in finding more simple and less expensive diagnostic methods.

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Background and purpose: Rabies is an ancient lethal disease in human civilization that endangers the life of many of its victims in case of ineffective treatments. Although the definition, etiology, semiology, and treatment of rabies exist in Islamic medical texts, but they are unintentionally or sometimes intentionally being neglected. This article aimed at studying the knowledge of the physicians of Islamic era about the naming, definition, and etiology of rabies.
Materials and methods: In this qualitative content analysis, data were collected from the medical texts of the Islamic civilization using the following words and phrases as the keywords: rabies, dāʾ al-kalab, madness of dog, mad dog, and bitten by a rabid dog. Data were organized according to the naming, definition, and etiology of rabid. Careful survey of the notes was carried out and duplicates were removed.
Results: Findings showed that physicians of the Islamic world had a perfect perception about rabies and its etiology based on the edge of knowledge at their time. Alas, this knowledge remained in books and is not considered in current science.
Conclusion: The knowledge of the Muslims about rabies was neither based on superstition nor the repetition of Greeks and Romans. There are noticeable materials to define the reasons for the emergence of the rabies in dogs that deserve more attention.
 

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Animal bites are a frequent reason for primary care and emergency department visits by children. Rabies is endemic in Iran, with 5 to 11 deaths reported annually. Over 90% of rabies cases in the country are caused by dog bites, and more than 50% of the victims are children under 15 years old. The mortality rate of rabies is 100%.
A 4-year-old girl, who had been bitten by a dog and sustained facial lacerations 16 days prior to admission, presented with fever and loss of consciousness. Despite wound washing, receiving four doses of the rabies vaccine and immunoglobulin, and taking cephalexin on the fifth day after the bite, she developed rabies encephalitis. Rabies was confirmed through a skin biopsy and saliva PCR. Treatment included vancomycin, meropenem, and acyclovir in addition to favipiravir. The patient was intubated due to impaired consciousness and respiratory issues, and her hypertension was managed with medication. A brain CT scan showed normal findings. Cerebrospinal fluid analysis revealed protein at 52, glucose at 63, and no cellular presence. Vancomycin and acyclovir were discontinued when blood culture, wound culture, cerebrospinal fluid, and PCR results returned negative. Echocardiography results were acceptable, and the patient’s lab tests showed no other abnormalities except for leukocytosis at admission, an ESR of 60, and a CRP of 40.
The patient remained intubated for two weeks and continued to receive supportive measures, ongoing drug therapy, ventilator adjustments, and water and electrolyte balance management. During hospitalization, she showed no response to the apnea test, oculovestibular reflex, or doll's eye maneuver. Two weeks later, she developed bradycardia and subsequently died, with a final diagnosis of furious rabies.
Despite receiving the rabies vaccine and immunoglobulin, the patient died within a month of the bite, which may be attributed to the location of the bite on her face, the timing of her treatment, or the quality of the vaccine.