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by danhorner
567 days ago
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I live in Washington and bats occasionally wander into our cabin. As others have pointed out, there is a difference between pre-exposure (Vaccination) and post-exposure protocols. The rabies vaccine is given pre-exposure and can be obtained at travel clinics. It's generally only given to people travelling to high-incidence areas or sometimes to those working with wild animals. I believe this is because it's only effective for a year or two. Although, there was one documented non-fatal incidence of human rabies in an individual who had been vaccinated years prior if memory serves. The rabies post-exposure protocol is much less pleasant. It includes Immunoglobulin against the virus as soon as possible post-exposure. This needs multiple injections just to make up the volume. It's much more expensive and a little unusual, so ER visit. A child-sized dose was 4 simultaneous injections into buttocks and arms. It's followed by vaccination+booster at travel clinic, a couple of weeks apart. If you are able to preserve the bat without touching it, local authorities can examine it. They will need to decapitate it and examine the brain tissue, so the brain needs to be intact and not frozen to get good tissue. ie. Don't put it in the freezer. Having said that, bats are super-adorable and I've been able to move them with heavy gloves by placing a tupperware over them, sealing with a piece of paper, and relocating them outside before anybody gets close to them. We just had one borderline experience (no confirmed contact) where we felt it was better to be safe than sorry. Post-exposure protocol is criticial if there was contact with the bat because the stakes are so high. |
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