Bat flew into my hair, AIBU to seek further advice?

I want to tag all the posters I’m on this thread taking the OP to grow up or ignore it.

She qualifies for the vaccine with that close contact and the bag can bite without you knowing if caught. People shouldn’t give medical advice. The reason you get the treatment as yes the bag might have only had a 1% chance of having rabies but that 1% gives a 100% fatality. So the treatment is given. 111 are wrong.

@TheYorkshirePudding
@PrettyLittleRose
@YourTidyGreyRobin

Did you miss the part that said you can't always feel a bite?

100% this. There are people on this thread who know what they are talking about, I suspect the actual medics. You score as an amber risk from the information you have shared. You should get the vaccine based on this but you need a proper assessment asap. A and E is entirely appropriate for this.

All these posters eye rolling and shouting their mouths off would be climbing over their own grandmothers to get to A&E if they thought there was a millionth of a chance they’d contracted rabies.

It is (with a notable exception or two) fatal and is said to be the most horrific way to die. I wouldn’t take my chances and I doubt anyone else of sound mind would too.

Thank god there are at least some people on this thread with the correct knowledge, I despair of posters giving out incorrect information about fucking RABIES!

Don't be daft - she wouldn't know if she'd been bitten and the risk of rabies is there, it's always fatal if not vaccinated within 24 hours. Please don't be ignorant.

I agree with this. So much advice here from people who are ignorant - don't know that bats can be rabid in the UK, don't know that a bat bite (especially in the scalp) may not be visible but still willing to dispense medical advice. amazing.

Dh saw someone die of rabies - she had taken a wait and see approach. By the time you see it is too late.

You don't always feel a bat bite so the OP cannot 100% say she was not bitten. The fact the bat was caught in her hair increases the risk of a bite. Getting rabies is so catastrophic that medical professionals err on the side of caution.

Not true. There is a specific strain found in some bats in the UK. (It is true that there is no rabies in any land animal in the UK.)

Based on all the recent updates and the guidance a previous poster added, I think it would be sensible to go to A&E tonight if you can, or first thing in the morning.

You sound quite calm so please try and remain calm and remember that statistically you are probably ok, you have 24hours grace and a vaccine is available.

I also have curly hair and know how easily things get tangled in there - even if just by a few seconds the bat would have been in your hair/on your skin longer than on silky straight hair. It could well have scratched you in its struggle to get free.

Go to A&E and get the vaccine, do it tonight. It's a small risk but dire consequences, don't risk it.

As we're shouting at people

SHE DOESN'T KNOW THAT!

You don't feel or see bat bites. A bit of spit going in her eye is enough.

she rates an amber risk on the UK government risk matrix - physical contact with a bat in the UK. She needs to be seen tonight, and start the treatment course.

Yeh I’d not rely on I didn’t feel a bite. The outcome if it’s wrong is high up there. And yes only a tiny chance of rabies even with a bite, but still.

Go to A&E OP.

The risk is minimal but it is not a risk worth taking

A bat flew into my hair the other day when I walked my dog. I had no idea I was supposed to be concerned! Surely you’d know if it bit you?

Yes there is, a small amount of bats in Britain carry the rabies like virus.

Are you the same poster who thought they’d got bitten by a bat the other day despite no puncture wound?

The OP WAS NOT BITTEN!

Honestly, it's because of stuff like this that we have 14 hour waits in A & E some days!!!

.

You have no idea what you are talking about and what you are saying is incredibly dangerous and irresponsible.

That's two posts now where people who haven't been bitten by a bat think the have rabies! Mental.

Wow there's a lot of incorrect information here. Bats in the UK can carry rabies, it's low risk but they can. You don't always feel a bat bite. If it got tangled in your hair that increases the risk of a bite. As others have said OP a&e or ring 111 back.

This. I wish people would refrain from commenting if they don't know the correct information, and don't know how to assess risk. The likelihood of the bat having lyssavirus and having bitten or scratches her are very low, but the consequences would be catastrophic. My boyfriend had a bat fly into his bedroom while he was in there (awake, so he knew it hadn't bitten or scratched him whole he slept). It flew round and round the room for ages, getting close to him at times, every so often went to hide in the curtains, and it seemed unable to find its way out even when left alone in the room in the dark. He managed to get it out eventually, and phoned his GP, who absolutely took it seriously and did not mock him like some posters are doing to the OP. The GP passed his details on to experts (possibly RIGS?) who called him back, asked a lot of questions so they could risk assess and advised that rabies vaccination wasn't necessary in his case. As the bat flew into her hair/head so was in contact I'd absolutely suggest the OP contacts health professionals and speaks to experts. They may well say no rabies shots needed but I'd rather get experts to assess end risk and advise when it comes to rabies, and if they recommend the vaccine there is no harm in getting it.

Absolutely seek further advice from GP. You have had direct contact with a bat and there could be a scratch or bite — bats in the UK have very tiny teeth, and so it may not be seen or felt. Although the risk of lyssavirus (a type of rabies European bats can have) transmission is incredibly low in the UK, there is NHS protocol for this. You should be offered the 4 injections (day 0, 3, 7 and 21).

Cannot believe 111 told you to watch and wait — WTF!

Hi OP,

Don't listen to all the PPs on this thread spreading misinformation, and they are wrong for belittling you and your experience. I think they're pretty nasty to do that actually.

As the advice is to wash the area first, I would do that straight away and give your hair a good shampoo (leave in conditioner if you have it to save on time). Then unquestionably, just get down to A&E so they can give you the antidote shot. As someone wise above said, you can't risk it where there's even a slight chance of rabies.

I don't know if this'll make you feel any better, but in around 2008 my friend and I were waking through an archway into Red Square in Moscow (we were third year Russian students, doing a year abroad) and she got bitten by a monkey dressed as a baby (one of those stupid spectacles for tourists to make money, they do the same with bears too). We went straight to hospital, she had the jab (I think more like two, the second one was a day later) avd she was then absolutely fine. Still around today. I'm sure you'll be grand too, just seek the medical intervention as soon as.

Edited (rabies, not rabbits!)