Jeanna Giese

Jeanna Giese-Frassetto (born June 6, 1989) is an American rabies survivor. In 2004, when she was aged 15, she was bitten by a bat. A month later in October, she developed flu-symptoms and her physical state quickly deteriorated. After she was diagnosed with rabies, doctors at Children's Wisconsin used an experimental treatment called the Milwaukee protocol to put her in an induced coma to allow for her body to produce the antibodies needed to fend off the virus. She awoke from her coma a week later and became the first known survivor of rabies who did not take the rabies vaccine.

Early life and education Jeanna Giese was born to parents Ann and John Giese on June 6, 1989, in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. She has three brothers and was raised Catholic. where she played volleyball, and graduated in 2007. Giese picked up the bat to take it outside, and it bit her left hand's index finger.

Through Willoughby's research, he discovered that rabies victims who died after multiple weeks often had no trace of the virus in their bodies and their brains were normal, indicating that the body could eradicate the virus, although it was too slow to do so. With this information, he theorized that by putting Giese in an induced coma, the disease could be eradicated from her body. the team at Children's Hospital used ketamine to induce the coma, supported by amantadine, midazolam, and phenobarbital. She was kept in the coma for a week, where the team observed no typical symptoms of late-stage rabies such as rapid heart rate and blood pressure.

As a result of her coma, Giese lost all strength, stamina, and coordination, and had a long recovery period. She could sit up on the bed by the 12th day after being brought back from the coma. and became famous. She did not suffer impact to her mental and cognitive abilities from the rabies or coma. She left the hospital on January 1, 2005, with her family. Giese's care cost $800,000 . The same year, specialists reached the conclusion that the protocol was ineffective.

Giese is the most well-known survivor of rabies who did not take the vaccine.

Life after rabies Giese returned to school for the 2005–2006 academic year after taking classes over the summer to catch up on missed work. She could not play volleyball again while in high school. In 2006, Giese won the "Youth of the Year Award" given by the Fond du Lac Country Law Enforcement Association.

She studied at Marian University and transferred to Lakeland University in 2010, where she graduated in 2011 with a major in biology.

In August 2013, Giese's Siberian Huskies bit a rabies-infected bat. The dogs were vaccinated and quarantined. On the first anniversary of Giese's rabies diagnosis, she attended and was the guest of honor at a meeting for rabies researchers, where she gave a speech. , she has three children and lives in Wisconsin, where she works at the Children's Museum of Fond du Lac.