Bite? Rabies? Any docs?

[Feelingworriied]

So I feel a bit worried but not sure if I'm overthinking this

Yesterday we went to a national trust place - wallington hall in Northumberland. They have a den building area which has lots of trees, lots of logs and branches for the kids to build with. I had a short sleeved top on. I was carrying multiple branches and bits over to the kids and had them tucked under my arm. Obviously these felt rough but nothing notably painful.

This morning I noticed dried blood on my arm, thought it was a scratch. Wiped it away and could see two puncture marks about 5mm apart. I wiped again and the blood cleaned fully and disappeared. No wound/marks visible after it was cleaned.

At first I thought it was a spider bite but there's no swelling or redness. Then I remembered reading about that lady who died from rabies in the news - at the time I read around rabies because I didnt know much and remember seeing what a bat bite looks like. Basically same as a spider bite. So because of the lack of irriation if it was a spider bit I googled if there are bats at wallington - and this is where the fear started- it's known for bats, it has a large population 😳

Does it sound insane that I'm worried about a bat bite. I didnt see any bats but concerned if one was injured on one of the branches I collected it could have bitten me?

The chance of bats out in the day
The chances of one of those bats being the kind that bite
The chance that the bat would bite you
The chance that the bite would give you rabies

… leaves you more likely to be turning into a Vampire

You could go to an and e let them know you have an unidentified bite and were in an area with a large bat population. Hopefully they can give you a vaccine just in case .

Call 111 if you are worried. You can send them a picture of the bite

The chances of catching rabies in this country is EXTREMELY miniscule. However, as I’m sure you know IF on the off chance you were bitten by a bat with rabies, once you get symptoms it’s a death sentence. So on that alone, I think I would contact with a doctor/111 for advice. Unfortunately with rabies you don’t have the opportunity to wait and see. Once you know it happened, it’s too late.

The problem is IF it was rabies (and I do understand how vanishingly unlikely that is), and she waits until she feels unwell then she’s dead. There is absolutely nothing they can do once symptoms have started. Once you get symptoms you’re 99.9% dead.

I hope this puts your mind at rest. All classical rabies cases have been imported, and only one person has died from the bat variety in the UK and he was a bat handler.

Apologies, @LikeMe is correct. If worried, seek immediate advice.

https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/rabies/

(I’ll report my thread to get the inaccurate information above removed).

I wasn't sure that UK bats would carry rabies but apparently a very very few carry a variant. So few that it's incredibly unlikely that - even if you have been bitten by a bat, which is uncertain in itself - you've been bitten by one with it:

https://www.bats.org.uk/about-bats/bats-and-disease/bats-and-disease-in-the-uk/bats-and-rabies-faqs

Imagine presenting at a&e because you scratched yourself with a twig and think you have rabies!

The side effects of the rabies vaccine dont look to be any different to any other vaccine so the risk / benefit would probably be to get one done . It’s a tiny tiny chance that you’ve been bitten by a bat with rabies but better to get vaccinated just in case .

Imagine dismissing a possible rabies bat bite as a scratch and suffering a preventable and horrific death ?

Could it have been a snake bite?
i think you should get the puncture wounds looked at. If it’s a snake bite, they may give you antibiotics to be safe.

Do you understand the risk though if it WAS a bat with rabies and she ignored it? This is an incurable horrific virus with guaranteed death unless you have the vaccine.
Yeah I would bet my house that the OP was not bitten by a bat with rabies. But should she risk her life? I wouldn’t do that.

That's the thing, there's nothing to see, the blood covered about a square inch, then I wiped it. Could see two small wounds, wiped it harder and it cleaned it and it's gone

The woman who died of rabies didn't catch it in the UK. It doesn't really exist here. And it was from a dog.

You'd notice if a bat bit you. And they wouldn't be out during the day anyway. It was either an insect or just from the pointy branches.

Yes it’s insane you are worried about bats.
Keep an eye on it, put some anti bac cream on and if you are still worried on Monday talk to the GP

Of course go and seek some medical advice, I k ow nothing about rabies and very little about bats but really this does seem quite a leap. It is much more likely that you disturbed a spider in a pile of logs on the floor. Also bats are quite big and flappy, surely you would've noticed a disgruntled bat, a small spider less so.

I know it sounds ridiculous to go to A&E and explain this, that's why I posted!

I get where you're coming from because I have health anxiety and always imagine the worst, but I think it sounds very unlikely that anything is seriously wrong with you, for all the reasons other posters said. Edit to say: you could call 111 and see what they say, might save you time at A&E.

i often enjoy watching the bats swirling around boat pond at my local park at dusk. I will sit as close to them as I can. Bats aren't interested in people. They wouldn't bite unless you grabbed one OP and held one firmly. To grab one you'd have to have reflexes like ElastiGirl.

OP being ElastiGirl sounds about as plausible as the rest of the scenario OP is worried about, I suppose.

We don't have rabies in the uk.
The only cases of rabies for the last 50 + years were all people who were bitten abroad

Not sure if it’s available privately but worth looking at local travel clinics as may save you an a and e wait and then you’ll be able to
relax if you get it done asap.

Do you understand that we don’t have rabies in this country?

While the UK does not have classic rabies UK bats can carry Lyssavirus which is related to the rabies virus and can cause death.

As I’ve said many times, the chances of the OP being bitten by a bat with rabies is likely smaller than being killed by a falling shark in your own house. I’m pretty lax when it comes to illness. I work with sick people a lot who are coughing in my face etc. I understand risks and that illness is a fact of life. I however would never be lax with anything to do with rabies.

The chances are the OP would go to doctor/hospital/111 and they’d tell her not to worry. But I would never online tell someone to ignore something like this. Rabies is fatal. I’d rather look stupid and be over cautious than someone be dead.