RADIOLAB Podcast “Rodney vs.
Death” Homework Assignment
Name: __________________________________________
Listen to the “Rodney vs. Death” Radiolab Podcast (Control + click on link to access podcast. Or go to
http://www.radiolab.org/story/312245-rodney-versus-death). Then answer the following questions. Your grade
will be based on how complete and correct your answers are.
1. This podcast begins with the story of a teenage girl, named Jeanna, who developed mysterious medical
symptoms. Summarize the beginning of her illness, before she went to see the infectious disease expert
in Milwaukee. What significant piece of information led Jeanna’s pediatrician to refer her to an
infectious disease expert?
The initial symptoms that Jeanna Giese experienced were a general feeling of crappy,
followed by tingling in her arm and double vision. She experienced flu-like symptoms and was so exhausted
a week later that she was unable to get out of bed to visit her doctor. The doctor clarified that it wasn't the
flu, though. She went home and became worse. Jeanna's body tensed, her speech became slurred, and her
arm began to shake uncontrollably. Her pediatrician observed how, in just two days, her condition
worsened. Everyone was puzzled by the girl's condition. The doctor was then informed by Anna, Jeanna's
mother, about the bat that had bit Jeanna's left index finger a month earlier. It happened when they were in a
mass Jeanna picked up the bat and bit her, breaking her skin. With that, the pediatrician referred them to an
infectious disease expert
Jeanna Giese’s symptoms started
from just feeling crappy, to a tingling
sensation on her arm and to having a
double vision. A week later, she had
flu-
like symptoms and extreme fatigue
to the point that she can no longer
get out
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of bed to go to her doctor. However,
the doctor said that it was not a flu.
She
went home and became worse.
Jeanna's arm started to involuntarily
jerk, her
speech became slurred and her body
stiffened up. Her pediatrician saw
how
her condition worsened in just two
days. They were all puzzled about
the girl's
condition. Anna, Jeanna’s mother,
then told the doctor about the bat that
bit
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Jeanna’s left index finger a month
earlier. It happened when they were
in a
mass at St. Patrick’s Catholic
Church, there was a bat that was
bothering
everyone. Jeanna picked it up and
the bat bit her, breaking her skin.
With that,
the pediatrician referred them to an
infectious disease expert
2. Once Jeanna was transferred to Dr. Willoughby of Milwaukee Children’s hospital, how did her
symptoms progress?
When Rodney met Jeanna, she was stuporous. She was talking in only sentences – could only follow a
step command, she couldn't physically stand, and her left arm would twitch and spasm. And she was getting
worse by the minute. After seven days of keeping her in an induced coma, they examined the spinal fluid
and discovered that her immune system was strengthening. She has a temperature, though, and they're not
sure what's causing it when they wake her up. They made the decision to put her into a coma for a week
before bringing h
3. Throughout history rabies has been a disease that is essentially 100% fatal. So how did the crazy
historical “cures” described, such as application of a rooster’s anus to the bite wound, ever catch on?
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The rabies virus has existed for a very long time. Due to the 100% fatality rate, people are in a constant
search for a solution or a treatment. However, scientifically speaking, none of them succeeded. On the
assumption that the rooster's anus would pull the poison from the bite wound, it is believed that you must
remove the feathers from a live rooster's anus and apply it to the bite incision.
4. How does the rabies virus enter the body and then travel to the brain, its target tissue? How is this
different than how most viruses find their target tissue in the body?
The area of the bite wound in Jeanna's case. It attaches to a nerve up to a certain receptor and then
slowly makes its way up to the nervous system, gaining only one to two millimeters daily. Going from the
length of a finger to the length of an arm could take a few days or even three weeks. until it gets to the target
tissues, which are the brain. A portion of your brain begins to shut down. Your muscles start to paralysis
until eventually your whole body is paralyzed. The worst possible situation is that you die.
5. If you are bitten by a rabid animal, you can still avoid developing rabies if you get vaccinated. At what
point is it too late for the vaccine to help?
Whenever you start experiencing the symptoms, including feeling sluggish, headaches, and fever. It is
far too late to get vaccinated if you experience flu-like symptoms including twitching, double vision, blurred
vision, or involuntary muscle spasms. You can die soon right as you experience these symptoms.
6. What are the symptoms of rabies? Describe the course of the disease. Why would the symptom of
hydrophobia developed by rabies victims be advantageous for the virus?
The first symptoms of rabies may be similar to the flu, including weakness or discomfort, fever,
or headache. These symptoms may last for days. Symptoms then progress to cerebral dysfunction,
anxiety, confusion, and agitation. As the disease progresses, the person may experience abnormal
behavior, hallucinations, hydrophobia (fear of water), and insomnia. Once clinical signs of rabies
appear, the disease is nearly always fatal, and treatment is typically supportive. Symptoms in animals are
often similar to those in humans. What is excitotoxicity and what might it have to do with how a rabies
infection affects the brain?
7. What is excitotoxicity and what might it have to do with how a rabies infection affects the brain?
The virus would overstimulate the nerves if, tragically, it got to the brain. This is what we refer to as
excitotoxicity, to the point where the brain simply shuts down in the end, but not to the extent of severe
damage, which affects the way the brain functions. Because the neurons that control respiration and blood
circulation are overloaded, these functions become difficult. The good news about hydrophobia symptoms is
that the virus has already been loaded into the victim's mouth saliva and is ready to bite the next person who
gets close and into touch. Like a loaded rifle, it is. The virus does not want to be eradicated; it wants to
propagate and infect.
8. What unconventional treatment did Dr. Willoughby try with Jeanna and how does it relate to
excitotoxicity in the brain? Why did the doctor think that this untested treatment might work? What was
his rationale? And finally, did it work?
Dr. Willoughby learned that laboratory researchers at the Pasteur Institute in Paris had shown
that an anesthetic, ketamine, was active against the bullet-shaped rabies virus. So Dr. Willoughby
proposed giving Jeanna ketamine to induce a deep coma and midazolam, a sedative, to prevent
hallucinations. Dr. Willoughby was worried about his radical proposal because it was only a theory. So
he went to his boss, Dr. Michael J. Chusid, the hospital's chief infectious disease expert, to request the
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services of an anesthesiologist and four other specialists, two each in neurology and critical care Dr.
Willoughby came up with the thought that If he put Jeanna on a comatose to her immune system for
about seven to ten days just enough to create a response and fight against this virus, he could borrow
some time for Jeanna's Immune System Response to activate and proliferate. for Jeanna to recover
because her brain was never damaged in the first place but merely disrupted. Finally, the operation had
worked and Jeanna was free from the rabies infection.
9. Jeanna’s treatment by Dr. Willoughby is now referred to at the Milwaukee Protocol. What is its current
success rate?
Dr. Willoughby's "Milwaukee Protocol has a 20% success rate as of the moment, as stated by Dr.
Willoughby himself. The protocol took into consideration that people would die from rabies instantly
the moment a symptom is felt; the 20% success rate was enough to recognize the possibility of saving
lives from rabies infection.
10. Do you think that the Milwaukee Protocol is just another rooster’s anus? Support your answer.
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