The Deadliest Virus on Earth

Summary by Krater

This video explains the biology of the rabies virus, how it infects the nervous system, evades the immune response, and travels to the brain, and how vaccines can prevent infection.

From the video

Answers: How does the rabies virus infect the body and brain?

• Rabies virus biology
• Nervous system infection
• Immune evasion
• Dynein motors
• Interferons and immune response
• Rabies vaccine

What it concludes

• Rabies uses one of its five proteins to hijack dynien motors and travel along microtubules to the nucleus.
• Rabies blocks neurons from making interferons and stays invisible to the immune system while traveling to the brain stem.
• Rabies kills around 60,000 people each year, almost half of them children.
• The rabies vaccine can be given after exposure to prepare the immune system before symptoms begin.