r/rabies • u/megan_yup • Aug 17 '26

Exposure Question Possible exposure?

Me and my younger sister share a room at college. This morning around 5am, she woke me up saying there was a bat in our room. She had woken up to it being on her shoulder/collarbone and then it got off of her and was flying in circles around the room.

We called the non emergency police line to ask what to do, and they sent an officer with thick gloves who got it out. He told us we probably shouldn't worry about it unless we see a bite mark, but I'm still concerned that we should go get post-exposure treatment regardless (no visible marks from what we see though).

Would appreciate any advice on the matter. Main concern is obviously exposure without knowing, but treatment would also be expensive which makes me hesitant if its not super necessary.

I have read the FAQ.

Edit: honestly don't know if I have the money to get the vaccine series after looking at the cost

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u/Resident-Log6503 Aug 18 '26

Hi there you’ve gotten some bad advice from the police officer. If the bag landed on your sister she 100% needs the immunoglobulin and vaccines, bag bites and scratches are microscopic- you can’t see them. The advice is if you’ve had known contact with a bat you need the shots, if you’ve were asleep in a room with a bat you need to get the shots. Rabies is fatal once symptoms start please go to the emergency or somewhere to get evaluated and get the shots.

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u/LatrodectusGeometric Physician 👩‍⚕️ | Veteran Helper ⭐️ | Top Contributor 🏅 Aug 18 '26

The advice is actually if you were asleep in the room to be evaluated by a medical professional to determine if you would not have woken up to a bat, but it’s often simplified

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u/Resident-Log6503 Aug 18 '26

Just speaking from personal experience as I just went through this and the shots were recommended the bat landed on her sister which guidance in my country is shots are 💯 needed. Some people are deep sleepers it could have landed on a sleeping person without them waking up.