[notch898b]

I encountered a bat many years ago acting erratically inside the house. It had evidently entered in my sleep.

I looked up the cost, and found out the household would be bankrupted by the shots and we would end up homeless. I calculated the danger from homelessness outweighed the risk of rabies. I guess the bet paid off, as we're now well past the 99th percentile of incubation period.

[switchbak]

Dang. I don't have a lot of financial reasons to prefer living in Canada, but that's definitely one (for now at least).

That's rough though, lucky you didn't get sick. It's not a choice I'd like to make.

[klipklop]

Seems pretty remote chance to get rabies without being bit, but did you read the last paragraph?

"The Aguilars wound up paying $3,546.64 out of pocket. The insurance company told us Wednesday that they "are reaching out to NorthBay Healthcare... to address these excessive charges.""

The shot normally costs ~$600 USD. There is no way the insurance in the end will pay the $54k the hospital tried to get away with.

[thaumaturgy]

> Seems pretty remote chance to get rabies without being bit

Just FYI, it's possible to get bit by a bat while sleeping and not realize it. Most bats are small and a bite mark may not be painful or immediately noticeable. There was a case in 2021 in Illinois of a man being bitten by a bat in his sleep; in his case, he realized he'd been bitten, but declined treatment (cost, probably...) and died of rabies a month later. Not a fun way to go.

I've heard the advice before to get a prophylactic rabies shot if you find a bat trapped in your house while you were sleeping. ...in civilized countries, anyway.

edit: https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2016/06/02/4804145...

[AdamJacobMuller]

> United Healthcare still paid more than $58,000 for the couple's rabies treatment

They did.

[klipklop]

Says in the article they are contesting it. I am guessing in the end they will be made whole. The only more vicious actor in this situation is the insurance company.

[notch898b]

If I recall correctly we had no insurance at the time. I was able to afford to re-vaccinate my animal, as it's only $60 at the vet, I figured at least my pet would survive.

[AdamJacobMuller]

It would almost definitely have been cheaper for you, without insurance, than it was for this couple.

[mongol]

Can you get rabies still, theoretically, from this event?

[i386]

I believe it’s only transmissible through saliva. Unless you are bitten by the infected animal you will be fine.

https://www.cdc.gov/rabies/transmission/index.html

[dr_dshiv]

25 years! https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3424805/

[AdamJacobMuller]

Theoretically, yes. The infection can lie dormant for an exceptionally long period of time in an exceptionally small percent of cases and can be triggered by unrelated external factors.