Bat Bites and Rabies

[Savaric]

This is a creepy story: http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/05/11/rab...eut/index.html

"Once a person becomes ill, there's really no effective treatment. Clinical illness with rabies is almost universally fatal," Palacio said.

"He is being treated, but Palacio said the chance of survival is low."

Wow. I didn't know rabies was so serious. Well, I knew it was serious, but apparently once symptoms set in you're in serious trouble. I was never told this when -I- was growing up!

[Kraxe]

The danger of rabies is drummed into us at every now and again with another TV drama where it invariably proves fatal and the authorities have to exterminate every animal within a xxx mile radius. Of course, these days they do that for just about any animal born disease. But still, in the UK I think you'd be hard pushed to find someone who didn't know that rabies was fatal.

Annnd, it wasn't bats that we had to be careful of, but mostly domestic animals being brought across by boat from mainland Europe. And French people.

[vin]

That article reminded me of a local story of a girl that was bit by a bat while cleaning in her church. Her survival was something of a 'medical miracle'.


http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/25/na...er=rssuserland

[Savaric]

That article's even better. I'd always hear stories of some raccoon doing somersaults in some old lady's backyard and I would be like, yea so what. I guess this lends those news stories more weight.

I always heard a rabies shot involved a redicuilously long needle going into your stomach, but it's probably an urban myth. I suppose now I'll be more sympathetic to women that freak out about bats flying into their hair.

[Jidoe]

Originally posted by Savaric
I always heard a rabies shot involved a redicuilously long needle going into your stomach, but it's probably an urban myth.

Actually, it is not one long needle going into your stomach, it's a series of about 10-20 shots (on the course of about two weeks) that you have to go through.

[xaxer]

It seems Rabies by bats can be contracted by inhalation too..

In studies of rabies acquired from bats, direct contact may not be necessary since documented cases of human rabies has been established after exposure to bat-infested caves. An airborne mechanism of transfer of the rabies virus has been hypothesized in such cases.

Is treatment for rabies urgent?
Yes! Since only seven patients are known to have survived once the symptoms of rabies developed, immediate treatment of all individuals suspected of having been exposed to rabies is mandatory.



the treatment consists of a regimen of one dose of immunoglobulin and five doses of rabies vaccine over a 28-day period. Rabies immunoglobulin and the first dose of rabies vaccine should be given as soon as possible after exposure, with additional doses on days 3, 7, 14, and 28 after the first. The vaccinations are relatively painless and are given in one's arm, in contrast to previous treatments which were given through a large needle inserted into the abdomen.



here is more info...
http://www.answers.com/topic/rabies?method=22

[Metiao]

My grandpa was telling me awhile back about a friend of his who used to trap fox a lot.

One day he got some baby foxes, and one ended up biting him, giving him rabies.

My grandpa told me what he had to have done was get 24 shots, and these were all the way around his belly button.