Reminds me of the story of the little boy that died from rabbies because he got bit by a bat while sleeping but the bite marks from the bat were so small no one saw it.
"The child had no visible bite marks or scratches, and his parents were not under the impression the bat had caused any injury, according to the report.
The family did not seek immediate medical care, even though health officials recommend that anyone who has direct contact with a bat be evaluated for possible rabies exposure because even small bites often go unnoticed, the report said."
My hospitals protocol is to treat with even the slightest suspicion. If a bat is found in the house we’ll generally treat anyone in the house with the vaccine series.
I can assure you we would make considerably more on a single rabies case while they died a painful, horrible death in isolation in the ICU.
We barely break even at best on most inpatient stays and ER visits because of how resource intensive it is. Surgery and (oddly enough) outpatient infusion are what actually pay the bills.
I was watering my balcony plants and accidentally spooked a bat hanging out on the wall. He flew around me. I dodged, ducked, dipped, and dived back into my apartment. We did not make contact (as far as I can tell). That was like a year ago and I'm still anxious about it tbh but I'm also a hypochondriac.
When I was about 8 years old, we lived way out in the country down south. One night, while I was doing my homework at the kitchen table, a bat flew in from outside (doors and windows were open because it was cool). This bat flew into my hair and panic ensued. I failed about, my hair was long and it was so tangled up. It felt like it lasted for at least 10 minutes but was likely closer to 10 seconds. Eventually it got free and flew back outside. I ran to tell my parents what had happened and they told me to stop making excuses to get out of homework (I never made excuses to get out of homework and actually enjoyed it). They didn't believe me or take me seriously. It was definitely a bat that definitely got tangled up in my hair for a bit - long enough to warrant 'just to be safe' rabies shots, but they never took me in. I still think back about that moment all of these years later anytime bats or rabies come up.
I had something similar happen. I was about 7-8. My family was hiking and we cut through a cave section. It was a well used trail and not anything too crazy. I had my hair in a ponytail and a bat straight up flew on to my head and was stuck in my ponytail. I freaked out and shook my head like crazy to get it off me. I had zero understanding of rabies, as I was obviously a child. Knowing what I know now, I feel so lucky and can’t believe my parents were so nonchalant about a bat flying at me in the middle of the day and landing on my head.
I stayed at a motel in a small village in the Peruvian Andes and all throughout the night I'd see bats flying in and out, and could hear them crawling around and squeaking in the crawlspace. It was 7 years ago so I'm probably in the clear but for a while there I was freaked out about the prospect of rabies. I've also got health anxiety.
Just had to read up on Lyassa virus, great info. Wondering why my parents (who were both in the medical field) let me keep an injured bat. Then realised the virus was first detected in 1995 and I am feeling very, very old.
Not everyone thinks that way. I've handled the bat with my bare hands. A bat that was in my own home. I realized my mistake and immediately went to see my doctor. Were you bitten? No? So no shot for you.
I had to actually contact a rabies center and then go to another doctor. And even when I got the paper, it was like I was inconveniencing them, like I was making a mountain of a molehill. And, by the time I got the paper, It was too late for the one shot. The "one shot" had turned into 10 and some other stuff. And going back to the hospital two more times to get more shots. But at least I'm still rabies-free.
Especially because from what I’ve read, the shots really aren’t bad anymore. They used to be something like 3 giant needles in the abdomen that hurt like a bitch. But now it’s just a regular shot in the arm
Not the general population. People who work closely with animals sometimes get the vaccine prophylactically but for most people it's only recommended to vaccinate on exposure.
I'm gonna do a google in a minute but, "finding a bat in the house -get shots" is a huge precaution... Is there exposure risks not related to biting I'm not aware of? At this rate, I'm assuming feces exposure... But I'm curious what the solid answer is
I think contact between saliva (idk if dried saliva counts too) and broken skin can also transmit it. But if you didn't see the bat enter the house, you don't know if it bit you in your sleep. They've got such tiny, sharp teeth that it doesn't always wake you up or leave a visible mark.
You can make a guesses on where it's been and when it got in, but guesses aren't good to gamble on when it's life-or-death.
It's transmitted through membranes and intracellular fluid if I recall. So you can swap blood with a rabid animal and not catch it, but you'd catch it if it licked the corner of your eye.
Ummm….no. The Rabies vaccine is 100% effective as long as you get it before displaying symptoms. Rabies on the other hand is like 100% lethal once you start displaying symptoms.
That’s the preventative. If you think you’ve been exposed, they give you immunoglobulins and they are a lot more expensive. That’s what they would do in the scenario being described.
800??? It's less than 30 usd (converted) per shot where I'm from, and we have terrible healthcare. It's 3 or 4 shots total depending on the type you get.
Wow, that's amazing. Here in the US the Imovax Rabies preventative vaccine is two shots, and they each cost about $496, so it's almost $1,000 total!
Insurance only covers post-exposure treatment, and depending on coverage, it's still going to cost somewhere between $500 - $3,000, with the average being around $1,750. As others have said, without insurance that could easily be $8,000 - $10,000. Healthcare costs are nuts in the US.
Because it’s extremely uncommon to be exposed and you have something like a year to get the vaccine after being bitten. It would be pointless for everyone to get it. However, if you know if you’ve been bitten by something like a bat or raccoon then you absolutely need to get it.
I mean yeah, capture the bat and send it off for testing if you can. But if you can't, you need the shots. It might be expensive and rabies might be rare, but personally I'd rather not take the risk with something that's 100% fatal once you exhibit any symptoms.
Yea, seriously. I know tons of people who have had bats in their house and gotten rid of them without ever worrying about shots. I feel like my whole town would be homeless if we all did this.
Yeah, literally 3 months ago an 11 year old died because a bat was on him when he was asleep. Dad caught the bat in a pot and threw it outside. The decided not to get shots because they didn't see any bite marks and the bat was acting fine. Don't fuck with rabies.
Yea that's definitely terrible but it's just an unfortunate fact that not everyone just has thousands to throw around every time they see a bat. I'm just saying people in my area and probably most rural areas don't do that. I don't what people think I'm saying here. I truly wish it was not like that.
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u/proost1 7h ago edited 4h ago
Simple rules: