should I get rabies shots? Contact with a bat?!
Question: Should I get rabies shots? Contact with a bat?
Answers:
Best Answer - Chosen by Voters
Very unlikley. Unless your are bit. I am sure you were not close to the bat when it hissed. I would go with the GP and say you have a slim to none chance.
I have trapped numerous bats.
The only way to be 100% certain you won't get rabies is to get the vaccine. As it stands without getting the vaccine, its an extremely low probability that you have been exposed to rabies. Hissing could not transmit rabies virus unless your nose or mouth were within an inch or two from the bat, and even then its extremely unlikely. People get rabies through saliva primarily through hand-to-mouth transmission after touching a rabid animal. If i were in your situation i wouldn't bother with the vaccine, but that's just me.
You should discuss this with your doc TODAY. While the risk of exposure is small, infection with rabies is virtually 100% fatal. It seems unlikely that you would have been exposed by the level of contact you describe, but why not put your mind at ease and talk to your doc or other health care professional to help alleviate your concerns. Rabies can be transmitted through aerosols, but it is a very inefficient means of spread. This type of spread has been documented in cavers who breathed in air contaminated with aerosolized bat urine from bats hanging from the roofs of caves.
Probably not, but go to the doctor anyways and ask how much the shot costs, if you can easily afford it you may as well get it.
Yes I would just in case.