Viewing a single comment thread. View all comments

rocketwidget t1_ja5qxxr wrote

Hey OP, here's what the CDC says to do in your exact situation:

https://www.cdc.gov/rabies/animals/bats/index.html

>If you are outdoors:
>
>...
>
>If you are outside and have direct contact with a bat, you should talk to a healthcare or public health professional to decide if you need to be vaccinated to prevent rabies.

also

>A bat that is unable to fly and is easily approached could be sick.

also

>Bat bites can be very small.

Rabies is a fatal disease. A tiny, sometimes unnoticeable bite can transmit rabies. It can also be prevented after bites with a vaccine.

196

Ih8MyBrosWife t1_ja69oo4 wrote

I watched my wife get these needles. Op is in for a great time. The needles are huge af and he will probably need about 8 of them on his first dose. That said if he keeps the bat they can test that and hope it doesn't have rabies.

47

Mithras_ t1_ja6jkw6 wrote

How long ago was this? You need 4 doses of the modern rabies vaccine, and they aren’t any worse than any other injection

39

Ih8MyBrosWife t1_ja6kx68 wrote

4 seperate times you need to get a dose. Her first was 5 needles. The amount you need per session is based on weight. The nurse literally said to me you are lucky you didn't get bit because you would need much larger dose. This was 2019. Also you don't know wtf you are talking about. the needle was massive.... All 5 of them

Edit 2 of the needles were right into the thigh.... Looked bad

−11

No_Advantage9759 t1_ja6r5ld wrote

I had rabies shots (5 doses in total) and they were definitely similar to flu shots. This was in 2017... I felt a minor pinch and that was it. The experience you are talking about is kind of fishy as adults usually don't get more than 5 doses of rabies shots anymore... and through thighs, those are for pediatric patients. I don't know where you live but it sounds like a shitty healthcare system if this is legit.

23

caaarlyj t1_ja71ujh wrote

This is super anecdotal though. The pain felt from the shots is dependent on the individual.

Immunoglobulin is also administered as close to the exposure site as possible, usually infiltrating directly into the wound, so they are absolutely correct.

2

caaarlyj t1_ja71iid wrote

It’s the immunoglobulin that is weight dependent, and is usually injected as close as possible to the exposure site. Anyone who hasn’t had prior rabies vaccinations needs to be administered this.

If you’ve had the round of 3 vaccinations prior to exposure, you only need to do the 3 post exposure shots with no need for immunoglobulin.

So you’re absolutely right, 4 shots total but initial round is a series of shots to ensure the right amount of immunoglobulin.

3

bulboustadpole t1_ja6r7rl wrote

> A tiny, sometimes unnoticeable bite can transmit rabies.

This is very much a myth and there's been little to no cases of this actually happening. If this was true there would be more than 3-5 deaths a year in a country of 330,000,000.

Rabies is literally one of the rarest and most uncommon diseases in the United States in humans.

−6

rocketwidget t1_ja7iqu1 wrote

Please see the CDC source:

> Bat bites can be very small

Rabies is very rare in the US because of a robust anti-rabies effort including animal control and preventative shots. It certainly didn't used to be very rare in the US and it's still not very rare in other parts of the world.

For example, ~60,000 Americans get shots each year, a big part of why we keep deaths at ~3-5 each year.

7

Cautious-Rub t1_ja847eu wrote

You are wrong. Rabies can be transmitted if you have a small cut or wound on your hand (ie paper cut) and you come in contact with saliva that’s infected with rabies .

This is how outbreaks occur. People get complacent and start saying vaccines will give their pet autism so they don’t vaccine. Then their pet come in contact with a skunk, raccoon, feral cat, bat, etc… then the whole family gets to go through prophylactic treatment.

Just because you’ve never seen it close up; doesn’t mean it does not exist. It just means veterinary support and environmental health are doing a good job. Rabies is almost 100% fatal, all but two people have died from it, but it still ravaged their nervous systems and it was a long hard journey to speak, eat, control bowels, and walk again.

1