AIBU to worry after a possible bat hit my forehead?

Yes, you can pay for a rabies vaccination in the UK. You need 2 or 3 doses and they are readily available at some pharmacists and travel clinics. However, this is not usually advised unless you are travelling to an area with a high risk of rabies or have a high risk occupation.

You are not going to catch rabies from having a random object hit you on the head that you don't even know was a bat and didn't break the skin, get you in the eye or in any other way harm you.

Don't waste your GP's time on this, please.

I’m surprised bat houses are allowed at zoos if they are such lethal creatures as this thread suggests. There are thousands of them in there, flying round all those visitors. There must be multiple crashes into people every day but I’ve never seen mass hysteria about it.

This is the third bat thread I’ve read in the last few weeks. Has this forum turned into GothamCitynet?

Probability= miniscule ( not impossible) Severity = death. It's not worth the risk. For those being dismissive please refer to the NHS guidance:

https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/rabies/?hl=en-GB

And yes you can be scratched and not realise.

Bats don't fly around with bared teeth, ready to bite.
There's been quite the bat/rabies theme lately.

Dont need a bite, saliva entering.eyes, nose or mouth is enough. Also bat bites are often undetectable to the naked eye.

But you’ve no scratch no broken skin no bite no bruise…. Please try and take a deep breath and look at it rationally x Having severe health anxiety is awful and I’m sorry for you but honestly you have nothing to worry about x

Not true. We do. If you are in contact with a bat in the UK then you need to call and arrange to have the rabies team administer treatment. The risk of not doing so may be a very tiny risk of actually getting by rabies but if you do then you will 100% die. That is not a risk worth taking.

Stop spreading the lie that we do not have rabies in the UK.

Are you a medical professional? Have you examined her?

Dosent need to be a bite, saliva from the bat entering, the eyes, nose or mouth is all it takes.

Don't be daft and read the actual medical guidance - she may have been scratched and it won't be visible.

What's with all these batshit threads just lately.

Yes, we do.

More likely you got hit in the head by a large moth, they can wallop you pretty hard - I got beaned by a Red Underwing earlier this week and it hurt.

Whilst a pipistrelle bat is a bit heavier and has a larger wingspan, the Red Underwing (a notoriously clumsy moth) has a similar body size. The moth is far more likely to crash into your head than the bat is.

Either way, no bite = no possible route of infection. So forget about it.

Also not true.

Best response

The OP will know all this though.

Yet they’re choosing to wait until the morning.

I think the chances are it was a large moth, bats tend to fly higher...I very much doubt it was a bat.

Do some grounding and breathing exercises and a fun or calming activity to help your anxiety!

She wasn't bitten.

You may as well just call 111. I wouldn't worry about a bat flying into my head giving me rabies, but I don't have crippling health anxiety, and by the time you've worried about this, asked chat gpt, started threads on the Internet, and still felt worried, you may as well have just called. Save your time and make the call. You'll probably still be worried about it anyway, but at least you'll have taken appropriate action.

One wee’d on my husband’s bald head in the bat house at Chester zoo. We just thought it was hilarious (him not so much, it stank). Never even gave rabies a second thought 🤣

YABU but if youre that worried go for an assessment

It's alarming to see people giving 'wait and see' advice on potential bat bites. Here are the facts:

You might not feel or see a bite: Bat teeth and claws are so small that scratches and bites can be virtually invisible.
Rabies is present in UK bats: While terrestrial rabies is gone from the UK, European Bat Lyssavirus (EBLV) is present in the UK bat population.
Time matters: Rabies is almost 100% fatal once symptoms start, but entirely preventable if treated promptly.
If you have had potential contact with a bat, do not wait. Contact NHS 111 or your out-of-hours GP service right away to be assessed for urgent vaccination. Wash any potential contact site with soap and water for 5 minutes immediately.

@PollyBell
I’ve never actually rung 111 in my life so please be reassured that my health anxiety isn’t stopping anyone from receiving the help they need 🙄