AIBU to worry after a possible bat hit my forehead?

Maybe the USA has a bigger rabies problem with bats?

I live on that side of the pond and thought there were several "rabies" incidents every year, though not all from bats.
IIRC, most rabies deaths in the USA have been because of bats. Thank goodness for window screens!

Was it wearing a kimono?

I completely get anyone having health anxiety over rabies as it’s a pretty terrifying illness. It’s massively unlikely the OP has been scratched or got bat saliva on her face from an infected bat but given the consequences if that is what happened then it doesn’t seem unreasonable to call 111 or the GP and follow their advice.

i wish people would stop wasting NHS money - this is ridiculous

Its a wonderful it hasn't made the news all these crazed bats there is heaps on threads on them

What is with all the weird bat threads lately?!

In the US you are advised to get treatment if you discover you’ve shared your sleeping space with a bat. For good reason. You often won’t be able to tell if you’ve been bitten.

Incorrect info. If you get symptoms of rabies you will die. It is too late to do anything.

Bats are protected in the U.K. so if you have them in your loft and flying around outside you can’t get rid of them -can’t believe this is the case if there was a likelihood of rabies

I remember the bat! 😁. I saw a jellycat bat in a shop yesterday which reminded me of the MN bat.

A head bump has zero to do with bats. Nothing. It is a completely different scenario.

am i really the only one left who remembers this ?!? 😫

There are quite a few bats where I live and I quite often go out at dusk with my cat and we watch them flying around. They are really amazing how they fly at such speeds without bumping into anything.

A friend of mine was bitten by a bat - she’s a vet nurse and was handling an injured one which bit through her gloves. She did have to go to hospital and get vaccinated against rabies after being assessed by the UKHSA.

This. I had my windows open in the very hot weather and had bats come in a few times during the night. They flapped around, never bumping into anything, and were gone by morning.

Considering that the test involves euthanising the animal, cutting its head off and sending the head for testing you may understand why they don’t test them for rabies.

But she didn’t see a bat. It could have been a leaf. It would be farcical to seek treatment. Imagine this: I was out for a walk and something brushed my face so I am going to
presume it was a bat (statistically unlikely) and also assume it has transmitted rabies (statistically even less unlikely). What injury or symptoms can the doctor inspect? On that basis and info, no doctor could prescribe any medication to treat an injury by an animal that was unseen and is unevidenced.

I do feel that the age of the internet and increasingly emotionally labile medical advice (often designed to prevent litigation rather than illness) has broken our ability to see and assess risk. A parent of a child I teach took them to an and e because they had bumped their head and got an egg swelling and bruise. YES head knocks can cause brain injury and YES that can be fatal but children get head bumps all the time and do not have concussion. The child was fine. The parent continually panics. The child is nervous and anxious. This kind of crazy extrapolation is a dangerous trend for children and is affecting their ability to mature and grow up normally.

Look up the ways rabies can be transferred.

None of them have happened to you.

Brief akin to skin contact with a bat, even a rabid one, will not transfer rabies. I assume no part of the bathroom entered your oral, ocular or nasal cavities.

Please don't waste your own or NHS time on this. If you decide to make an appointment, make one for health anxiety. I wish you all the best in getting that sorted - I know it's horrible and can be really hard to deal with.

Yes! Yet another BATSHIT, attention seeking thread!

This happened to someone I work with and she was told by NHS24 to monitor for signs of rabies!

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/_chat/5565470-travel-insurance-question-bats-rabies-fun-stuff

bats and travel insurance

Just call 111?

Bat in the bedroom?

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/5565202-i-need-to-be-told-im-being-ridiculous-rabies-bats

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/5567904-bat-flew-into-my-hair-aibu-to-seek-further-advice

I don’t think the OP will come back, I don’t believe she came back to any of her other many recent posts where she’s worried about having potentially being bitten by a bat even though she’s never seen one.

so no idea if she’s ever been to a&e, etc for a rabies shot but if so she will be covered as I doubt she needs a rabies injection every week. The dose must last for some time.

OP either has a very specific health anxiety or just likes making weird posts about bats.

I completely agree that it’s possible (though unlikely) for a bat in the uk to have rabies. I agree it’s possible to be bitten or scratched by a bat with no visible puncture mark. But I don’t believe it’s likely that when rootling through stuff in your car if you feel a scratch that it was a bat hiding in your car which you never see either before or after. I find it extremely unlikely that when walking after dark that if an unseen thing flies into you that it was a bat. More likely to be a leaf or bit of rubbish blowing about.

And ignorant.