A new choice for human rabies diagnosis: A case report of metagenomics next-generation sequencing in diagnosis of human rabies

Abstract

Purpose: We report a case of human rabies diagnosed by the metagenomics next-generation sequencing (mNGS). A 59-year-old man developed clinical rabies 20 days after he was bitten by dogs. Treatment included induction of coma initially; rabies vaccine was not administered. The patient was treated with propofol, midazolam, recombinant human interferon α2b, ribavirin, and amantadine. Penehyclidine was administrated to relieved the rabies induced pulmonary edema and the salivation. Results: The patient’s situation got worse on the 26th day after admition, and died on the 29th day finally. Conclusion: The mNGS might be a new choice for human rabies diagnosis，penehyclidine was effective in decreasing the rabies induced pulmonary edema and the salivation.

Keywords

• Human rabies
• Metagenomics next-generation sequencing(mNGS)
• Rabies induced pulmonary edema
• Penehyclidine