PSA: rabies safety

Yeah, they're really cool animals, "Halloween butterflies" and all that, but...

A family friend will be getting her last round of injections next week. 
 

She had physical contact with a wild bat after Hurricane Milton, then released it. 

Their teeth are so small and sharp that a bite is imperceptible .

If there's any chance of physical contact, or a bat is found in a room with a sleeping person, a small child , or an adult with dementia that individual has to be vaccinated if the bat cannot be tested. 

How many shots is a "round of injections" these days ?

Thanks for the info

There was a young childs death reported a month or so ago in Ontario, I think.  Bat in the bedroom, no evidence of a bite...

californiamilleghia said:

How many shots is a "round of injections" these days ?

Thanks for the info

IIRC, it is four now. The first round was 6 different shots in large muscles, and then once a week after that. We had to get them a decade ago when we were woken up by a bat that we could not capture. 

I think the first set was 12 vials in four sites. 
 

if there is a known bite, then they inject in a circle around that location. She got an injection in each arm and each thigh.

So, this makes me torn about a plan I had to put up bat boxes toward the back of my property. I'm on a little over an acre, my next door neighbor has a in ground pool that has been gross for the last 8years at least and we live in a swampy area in general, so we struggle with mosquitoes. I wanted to put up bat boxes to try to knock down the population. 

On the converse side, I have kids aged 4 & 6.

Should I just go back to the plan to mortar launch shock tabs into the neighbors pool?

In reply to Apexcarver :

The big thing is to keep bats out of the house. They normally don't bother people, but in a house they will. We hired someone to seal off the house to bats, as we had them in our attic. 
 

And better for them to be out killing the deadliest creature on the planet- mosquitos. 

In reply to alfadriver :

I have seen bats flying around at dusk frequently, but not a single in the house incident in 8 years here.

A couple of years ago, I was bit by a stray dog while I was out of the country. . It was 4 shots of vaccine around the bite site spread out on days 0,3,7, and 14. I got two doses of immunoglobulin too, but I don't know if that's standard practice in the US or not. Fun fact, the CDC calls me every couple of years to verify that I'm still asymptomatic and gather demographic information. 

My brother went through shots this time last year. If I remember right he was running with my nephew in a jogging stroller. Bat flew into his leg that he kicked into the bottom back of stroller. Then he fished it out by hand and threw it once he realized what it was. If he had spiked it and sent the bats corpse off to test he might have avoided the shots but ended up going through the whole series and being all right. 

Apexcarver said:

So, this makes me torn about a plan I had to put up bat boxes toward the back of my property. I'm on a little over an acre, my next door neighbor has a in ground pool that has been gross for the last 8years at least and we live in a swampy area in general, so we struggle with mosquitoes. I wanted to put up bat boxes to try to knock down the population. 

On the converse side, I have kids aged 4 & 6.

Should I just go back to the plan to mortar launch shock tabs into the neighbors pool?

Get a cup of olive oil into the water.  The oil will float to the top, completely cover it, and kill any bugs that try to go in or out.

Apexcarver said:

So, this makes me torn about a plan I had to put up bat boxes toward the back of my property. I'm on a little over an acre, my next door neighbor has a in ground pool that has been gross for the last 8years at least and we live in a swampy area in general, so we struggle with mosquitoes. I wanted to put up bat boxes to try to knock down the population. 

On the converse side, I have kids aged 4 & 6.

Should I just go back to the plan to mortar launch shock tabs into the neighbors pool?

Oh, I would definitely still put up the bat houses if it were me. I'm more concerned about mosquitoes as a vector.

40 or so years ago I was bitten by a dog, my mom took me to the ER and because the dog couldn't be located I had to get the shots. Back then it was 30 shots. Stupid dog. 

In reply to Floating Doc (Forum Supporter) :

Thank you. 
 

The fire department used to get called in for bat removal, but we've stopped doing that within the past five years or so.  I don't miss it. 

I know that there isn't a reason to get the vaccine unless you've been bit (or potentially bit) by something, or work in a high risk job, but stories of rabies make me want to do it preemptively. I won't, but still want to. 
 

I read a terrible story, someone passed away from rabies, but the circumstances were such that they had no reason to and therefore didn't suspect it whatsoever. Then the 4 people that got organs from this person all perished as well, though one of the 4 passed away during the surgery or complications from it. https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa043018

mtn said:

I know that there isn't a reason to get the vaccine unless you've tbeen bit (or potentially bit) by something, or work in a high risk job, but stories of rabies make me want to do it preemptively. I won't, but still want to. 
 

I read a terrible story, someone passed away from rabies, but the circumstances were such that they had no reason to and therefore didn't suspect it whatsoever. Then the 4 people that got organs from this person all perished as well, though one of the 4 passed away during the surgery or complications from it. https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa043018

Yeah, it's a really scary disease. I've seen video of people dying from it, really gruesome. 
 

The latent period in humans is typically 20-90 days, but can range to many years. I find that to be one of the really frightening things about the disease. 
 

I was vaccinated, which is considered a pre-exposure vaccine in 1992. I was working in the hematology lab at the vet school.  All of my vet school classmates were also vaccinated when we started school the next year. 
 

I got bit by a dog last Monday. Some question as to whether the tiny scratch on my ankle was already there, or from the dog. Long story involving me trying to help a woman having a health issue at a gas station (on my way home from VIR, as a GRM tie-in). Health dept in the county I was in said they had to treat it as a stray and if I had any inclining that it had broken the skin to go ahead and do the shots. Said if they could find the woman and do an observation period on the dog, I could avoid shots, but they couldn't find the woman: "all we have from the police report is her first name [which they told me] and we don't know if she's even local".

In the mix of waiting on EMS/police and hiding on the bedrail of my truck like a scared child, it was clear to me that some locals knew who she was. So, Saturday I searched her first name and the area I was in. First Google result that looked reasonable was a Facebook page of a woman who looked similar and has the same damned dog in multiple pictures. I take rabies really seriously, but the dog didn't seem rabid, just an shiny happy person, so ideally I'd avoid these shots if they could just go verify that the dog is indeed still alive and not rabid. I'll be presenting my internet sleuthing today to the folks up there and if they still won't do anything, I'll be headed to the hospital for my first round. 

In reply to Spearfishin :

I'm not saying it would necessarily have prevented you from getting bit initially, depending on the circumstances, but that is one of the reasons I carry OC pepper spray (like Def Tech mk6 or POM clip) on me at all times. It should be able to effectively dissuade pretty much any overly aggressive animal from their attack, be it two legged or four, with a low threshold of justification for legal use.

There's way too many animals that are adorable or just look like they really need belly rubs that carry some awful disease or will just straight up murder you. 

I have every reason to believe that my headstone will be marked with some statement like "He thought the polar bear needed scritches"

JG Pasterjak said:

There's way too many animals that are adorable or just look like they really need belly rubs that carry some awful disease or will just straight up murder you. 

I have every reason to believe that my headstone will be marked with some statement like "He thought the polar bear needed scritches"

This dog was the reason I inserted myself in the first place. Right off Hwy 58, dog roaming circles in the parking lot, at night. Turns out owner was laid out seizing (my non-trained diagnosis) and dog had jumped out of car. I was simultaneously trying to keep dog from getting hit on the highway, calling 911 and hollering "ma'am, ma'am, can you hear me!?"

Dog sniffed my leg, wagged it's tail, made another nervous circle and as I was getting closer to owner to get her rolled a little less contorted between car and fuel pump, dog went from friendly to attack (protect?). Don't have to tell me twice. Sprinted for my truck and it grabbed my ankle as I ran. Mostly got pants leg. 911 operator got to hear all of my choice words for that dog. 

While it was clawing at my truck's bedside I tried reminding it that I was initially trying to keep it from getting run over, but my level of concern for its well-being was dropping rapidly. 

In reply to JG Pasterjak :

JG, didn't you once grab a wild bat and try to stuff it up into a bat house you'd put up that had gone unappreciated for so long that you decided to take matters into your own hands?

Margie