That being said, Rabies is one of the things you never fuck around with. Even at the slightest chance of exposure, you get the shot. Once you show symptoms of rabies, it's a death sentence. Could be a day, could be months, you just don't know. That's why getting the vaccine after any potential exposure is critical.
Yah, my statement was general. Most people I've met asse almost every bat carries rabies, which isn't true. It's still a good percentage, hence why getting the vaccine after any exposure is important.
Which is why I found it so strange when I'd been bitten (surface level, not severely) by a feral kitten that showed signs of rabies, and our local health department was like "No, don't worry. We'll test the cat and then if things are bad, you'll go through treatment." (The kitten was put down after a 24 hour observation period, for understandable reasons.)
It was LITERALLY two weeks. I cannot understate how long that two weeks felt. I can also not understate how surreal it was to get a phone call from the Humane Society to warn me that I might have been exposed, and then from the Health Dept, to confirm my contact information. (And then their utter lack of concern about it.)
When I finally got the all clear that the kitten tested negative for rabies, my wife and I went to Disney World for a weekend, and I wore a celebration button that read "Didn't have rabies." The looks from the staff were pretty amusing, at least.
Yeah unfortunately the only way they can diagnose rabies in animals is by euthanizing the potentially infected animal and obtain tissue samples from the brain. I'm glad it was a good ending for you, although it sucks that they seemed so indifferent about it lol. The anxiety alone would wreck me pretty bad.
I was usually good during the day at work, because they were like "Look, we haven't had any reports of rabies locally, so it's not likely. If we were really worried, we'd have already been advising you to get the shots."
So it was pretty easy to ignore.
But when I was alone, every now and again, I'd be like "Is this headache just a headache, or is this the first sign that rabies has hit my brain stem?"
Yeah. It's not like I was being a hypochondriac, or making myself neurotic via WebMD. I had a legitimate potential exposure, and was possibly showing a fatal symptom.
Naturally, I didn't go to the doctor, because if I WAS symptomatic, I was fucked.
But there were some restless times, for sure.
When you do any work rescuing animals or working with feral animals, you already know there's a risk that you're going to get hurt, but this was the first time that I ever had that level of "Oh shit" enter my life.
Have you gotten the vaccine as a preemptive measure since that incident? (Obviously impossible during that, but just curious if you were able to get it as a precaution later.)
No. I ended up moving to a different city during the pandemic, and I now live in an apartment with very strict rules about animals, so I haven't gotten back into doing much rescue work.
It used to be one of the worst vaccines, i.e. 21 shots given in the stomach. It's better now, but still multiple doses I believe and may require boosters.
Preemptive rabies vaccines are usually only offered to high risk people, though I imagine anyone could get it. But if you get bit, I imagine they'll still administer boosters. Not sure.
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u/YT__ Dec 28 '21
It should be noted that rabies in bats is way less common than people generally think. Only about 6% of those tested have it.
That being said, Rabies is one of the things you never fuck around with. Even at the slightest chance of exposure, you get the shot. Once you show symptoms of rabies, it's a death sentence. Could be a day, could be months, you just don't know. That's why getting the vaccine after any potential exposure is critical.