ABSTRACT
Stories and lore about rabid animals can be found in most cultures’ fairy tales and scary stories. Children are typically taught not to play with any wild animals, but especially not those that are acting erratically. And while many old wives’ tales are simply made to scare children into behaving, those surrounding rabies are genuinely true and truly terrifying. Tales tell of men’s minds turning feral, like those of the werewolves, reducing their mental states to raging animals. Even the term ‘rabid’ itself shifted over time to refer to anyone in a fit of rage and aggression; something to be feared. Contracting the virus was further horrifying, and fatal in all recorded cases until a treatment vaccine was developed in 1885 and improved in 1908, though the vaccine is, unfortunately, only effective if the course of administration begins immediately after exposure. However, our worldwide terror toward the disease encountered a curious questioning when, in 2004, a young woman who had been bitten by an infected bat failed to get the preventative vaccine, yet survived! Though others had not responded to the experimental new treatment of drug-induced comas to slow the progression of the disease, Jeanna Giese provided new hope to the entirety of the scientific community. This inspiring young woman has made great strides in her recovery, and has been further followed by two more confirmed survivors as of the year 2020, showing that the world may finally have discovered a silver bullet to cure modern werewolves.
