Every answer below comes from WHO guidance and Nigeria-specific research. When you are unsure about anything on this page, ask at the hospital — not at a chemist table.
What is rabies?
A virus passed in the bite or saliva of a sick animal. It slowly travels up the nerves to the brain. Rabies can no longer be cured once somebody is already sick — which is exactly why washing today and going to the hospital today is the whole job.
How do people catch it?
Saliva from a sick animal reaching the inside of the body: a bite, a scratch that breaks the skin (even when it does not bleed), a lick over broken skin, or a lick in the eyes, nose or mouth. A lick on healthy, unbroken skin is not dangerous.
Why wash the wound for 15 minutes?
Washing pulls the virus out of the wound, and soap breaks the fatty shell the virus needs to stay infectious. WHO’s own wording: washing drastically reduces infectivity of the virus. It acts before the virus reaches a nerve — nothing on the skin can help after that.
What do Category I, II and III mean?
Category III: the skin was broken or pierced — a bite, a deep scratch (with or without blood), or saliva on broken skin. Category II: a light scratch on uncovered skin with no blood. Category I: touching fur, or a lick on unbroken skin. When unsure, treat it as broken — doctors do.
Does it matter that the animal was provoked?
No. Teasing an animal does not remove the danger. The category is decided by what happened to the skin, never by who started it.
How long after a bite can the vaccine still work?
While you are still well, it is never too late. WHO instructs that people exposed to the same animal can still be protected even months later. Arriving late is a reason to go today — it is not a reason to give up.
What is RIG (the ready-made antibodies)?
Ready-made antibody injected into and around the wound itself. It defends the wound during the first 7 days while the vaccine builds your own protection. Severe (Category III) bites in people never vaccinated before need it. RIG is often out of stock in Nigeria — never wait for it: start the vaccine the same day, then keep asking at other centers until 7 days after your first dose. With washing plus immediate vaccination plus the completed course, more than 99 of every 100 patients survive.
The biting dog is still healthy after 10 days — can I stop the injections?
When a dog or cat stays alive and normal for 10 full days after the bite, it was not carrying rabies at the time. But only your doctor can decide to change your appointments — never stop the vaccine on your own, and never wait out those 10 days before starting.
Can children and pregnant women get the vaccine?
Yes. Pregnancy is never a reason to skip rabies protection, and infants and small children receive it too. Real rabies is the far greater danger to both.
What about cats, bats and other animals?
Cats follow the same rules as dogs. Any direct contact with a bat counts as a severe exposure even without a visible wound. Wild mammals (fox, jackal, mongoose, hyena) are treated as high risk unless a lab proves otherwise. Rodent bites are not known to spread rabies — wash the wound the normal way.
Why not buy the injections from a chemist table?
Rabies vaccine must stay between 2–8°C from factory to arm, and the injection needs trained hands. A vial that lost its cold chain may be dead on arrival — you would walk home protected by nothing. Get it at a real facility; the Find Vaccines list shows centers verified for stock.
Sources: WHO Rabies Fact Sheet (5 June 2024) · WHO Expert Consultation on Rabies, TRS 1012 (April 2018) · WHO position paper on rabies vaccines (April 2018) · WHO Rabies Bulletin · WHO regional reports (2025–2026) · NAFDAC register checks. Clinical content cut-off: 20 July 2026. Facility stock facts carry their own dates in the Find Vaccines list.