Rabies: a review and current approach for the clinician.

Rabies is an acute viral encephalomyelitis with virtually a 100% case fatality rate. Only three cases of human survival after rabies have been documented. The current epizootic of raccoon rabies in the United States centered over the South Atlantic states mandates a working knowledge of rabies management and postexposure prophylaxis by health care professionals. Recently, important advances in rapid and accurate diagnosis and improvements in homologous vaccines make rabies a preventable disease in the United States.