Hello,
Im asking for help with assesing the risk of possible bat bite which happend about a week ago.
Last friday, I woke up with a small wound on my forearm resembling a bat bite I found at this site: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/be/Wound_from_canine_teeth_of_Eptesicus_fuscus.jpg
I also attached my own pictures taken about 18hrs later.
You can see that the wounds are almost identical - one a little deeper than the other, with the same diameter and also the same distance between those marks, which is about 4mm.
The point is that I actually haven't spotted any bat, but during the last months I was forced to sleep with windows wide open due to the high temperatures. I also remember hearing strange squeaking noises coming from outside one night, can't exactly remember which night though.
There are quite a lot of bat spieces in my city, some of them also known to carry the rabies virus. Two bats were also tested positive in this city, but that was before the year 2000 I think.
Therefore I contacted a bat advice center in my country, but they reassured me that there is nothing to worry about, as there were only 5 bats tested positive for rabies during the last 30 years, and that bats usually don't attack people anyway (I know that healthy bats don't, but I'm not that sure about rabid ones).
The odds are probably in my favor, but you know, anytime someone gets rabies from a bat, you see the terryfying news headlines saying that its the first case after XX years and (often) first case in the country. And none of us would like to become similar scary headline in the news.
I know doctors recommend PEP whenever there is a possible contact with a bat, therefore I'm not asking what 'should I do', but rather what would you guys do if you were in my place. Thanks in advance for any advices.
JR
Im asking for help with assesing the risk of possible bat bite which happend about a week ago.
Last friday, I woke up with a small wound on my forearm resembling a bat bite I found at this site: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/be/Wound_from_canine_teeth_of_Eptesicus_fuscus.jpg
I also attached my own pictures taken about 18hrs later.
You can see that the wounds are almost identical - one a little deeper than the other, with the same diameter and also the same distance between those marks, which is about 4mm.
The point is that I actually haven't spotted any bat, but during the last months I was forced to sleep with windows wide open due to the high temperatures. I also remember hearing strange squeaking noises coming from outside one night, can't exactly remember which night though.
There are quite a lot of bat spieces in my city, some of them also known to carry the rabies virus. Two bats were also tested positive in this city, but that was before the year 2000 I think.
Therefore I contacted a bat advice center in my country, but they reassured me that there is nothing to worry about, as there were only 5 bats tested positive for rabies during the last 30 years, and that bats usually don't attack people anyway (I know that healthy bats don't, but I'm not that sure about rabid ones).
The odds are probably in my favor, but you know, anytime someone gets rabies from a bat, you see the terryfying news headlines saying that its the first case after XX years and (often) first case in the country. And none of us would like to become similar scary headline in the news.
I know doctors recommend PEP whenever there is a possible contact with a bat, therefore I'm not asking what 'should I do', but rather what would you guys do if you were in my place. Thanks in advance for any advices.
JR
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