 Rabies has been linked with vampire folklore . Dr Juan Gómez @-@ Alonso , a neurologist at Xeral Hospital in Vigo , Spain , examined this possibility in a report in Neurology . The susceptibility to garlic and light could be due to hypersensitivity , which is a symptom of rabies . The disease can also affect portions of the brain that could lead to disturbance of normal sleep patterns ( thus becoming nocturnal ) and hypersexuality . Legend once said a man was not rabid if he could look at his own reflection ( an allusion to the legend that vampires have no reflection ) . Wolves and bats , which are often associated with vampires , can be carriers of rabies . The disease can also lead to a drive to bite others and to a bloody frothing at the mouth . 
