If bitten by a stray dog in
many parts of the world it is very advisable to get a rabies jab. In some parts
of rural India it is also sensible to see the local faith-healer or otherwise
risk having puppies grow inside you. As reported here there is a persistent local
belief that dog bites can lead to a person getting pregnant with puppies followed
by madness and death.
I do not know the roots of
the belief (and have not seen an article published in The Lancet in 2003, unavailable
on-line, that apparently covers the phenomenon) but it seems quite possible
that this “puppy pregnancy syndrome” may have originated from rabies and acts
as a mechanism to encourage people to avoid getting bitten by dogs.
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