[dr_dshiv]

My son recently had to get rabies shots. Well, that was the recommendation because there was a bat in the sleeping quarters of his camp. The probability that the bat had rabies is vanishingly small. Just like the probability that the bat bit him with no marks.

But, you read about rabies (no cure, horrible death), and even if it is a 1-10 million chance and you can do something about it — well, he got the shot (over my protest!).

I think this is similar — child abducted and god knows what happens to them? And it’s your fault as a parent for not supervising? Even a 1-in-10 million chance seems like too much.

It’s not rational, but I think that’s the psychology. It is countered by mentioning the side effects of the vaccine —in this case, identifying the potential harms of over-supervision.

[mhuffman]

I get a similar response when talking with other parents about allowing phones in school. We know that there are 130k+ schools in the US, and that a school shooting is statistically very, very small, however they still want to have a way for their children to contact them (or for them to contact their kids) if this happens. The mothers, in particular, all agree on this in my circle.

[danaris]

Getting a rabies shot is a much less onerous protective measure than preventing kids from playing unsupervised for their entire childhoods.

[jgwil2]

> The probability that the bat had rabies is vanishingly small.

Not really, it's something like 5%. Usually if the bat can be captured and tested for rabies you can wait to get the vaccine, but if the bat couldn't be caught, it makes sense to vaccinate just in case.

I don't understand why you would want to take a chance on rabies. What are the side effects of the vaccine that are so harmful?

[dr_dshiv]

Post exposure vaccine is costly: https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/2/7/16851134/ra...