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AIBU?

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Original poster

Bite? Rabies? Any docs?

96 replies

Feelingworriied · 02/08/2025 11:38

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?

OP posts:
Thread gallery
6
YourFairCyanReader · 02/08/2025 12:44

Notmyreality · 02/08/2025 12:12

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

I read that as anti bat cream.

YourFairCyanReader · 02/08/2025 12:50

AFAIK they dont give you a rabies vaccine following a bit, they give you an antidote, which is different (in countries where rabies is a risk). The vaccine is about £250 available privately, and in short supply.

Original poster
Feelingworriied · 02/08/2025 12:52

Yeah I'm not afraid I got bit of a random bat flying through the woods in daylight, more it might have been on one of the logs/branches that I picked up and potentially squashed it.

I agree a spider bite is much more likely but it must have been quite a bite to make that much blood, and there's no redness that you'd expect with a spider bite. I think I'll just have to take the embarrassment and ask a professional 😳

OP posts:
fromthechandelier · 02/08/2025 12:58

Maybe a bat wanted revenge against Ozzy Osbourne and you were the next best thing?

Vivienne1000 · 02/08/2025 13:00

LikeMe · 02/08/2025 12:40

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.

Show quote history

Never ever touch a bat with your own hands. Wear thick gloves and protection over body and face. Rabies absolutely has been found in bats in this country. Rare, but it’s there.

DartmoorWanderer · 02/08/2025 13:05

Vivienne1000 · 02/08/2025 13:00

Never ever touch a bat with your own hands. Wear thick gloves and protection over body and face. Rabies absolutely has been found in bats in this country. Rare, but it’s there.

Show quote history

The UK is considered to be rabies-free.

Posts like this will not help OP and her anxiety. She carried some sticks, scratched herself, and is now being told she has rabies!

Serencwtch · 02/08/2025 13:08

You would have noticed if you had bitten by a spider or bat.

Bats don't randomly fly around biting people in the day. You would have to have been deliberately handling it to risk a bite.

There are millions of flying biting insects that are very likely to bite you & will cause no harm at all other than a drop of blood.

If you didn't feel anything at all I'd say it's most likely to be a horse fly as they inject an anaesthetic as they bite so you don't feel anything. They bite twice too & often leave a drop of blood.

Give it a clean & put some anthisan on if it itches. If it gets infected it will be obvious.

You don't have rabies & don't need a&e. Everyday first & common sense is enough

TarnishedMoonstone · 02/08/2025 13:30

I am a vet who was once stupid enough to let myself get bitten by a bat in the U.K. while treating it for injury. There is a great deal of misinformation on this thread, and posters who aren’t knowledgeable about this are saying things which are potentially extremely dangerous. As a couple of people have said, lyssavirus is found in some UK bats, despite the country being rabies free, and a bat bite does thus carry a tiny chance of transmission of a fatal disease.

When I was bitten, I knew I had been bitten and had the advantage of having the bat available, which I had euthanised because it had a badly injured wing. Public Health England took it extremely seriously. Although I had already been vaccinated against rabies I had 5 further injections of rabies vaccine, the first as an emergency in A and E. The bat was sent to a government veterinary laboratory and tested for rabies. It was negative and I was fine but was still told to complete the vaccination course (these vaccines are like any other vaccine these days, they are not particularly unpleasant). I was also offered immunoglobulin treatment (human blood derived product to give me immediate passive immunity), which I declined because by the time it arrived we already knew the bat was the wrong species for rabies, but I talked it over with PHE before deciding.

This would be the recommended response if the OP knew she had definitely been bitten by a bat, so people who are belittling the situation are misinformed. The difference between her and me of course is that I knew I had been bitten and she probably hasn’t been. However, rabies is fatal and treatment after clinical signs appear is useless, so while the OP is probably not at risk, the consequences could be so serious if she had been bitten that if it were me I would certainly ask the authorities what I should do. It’s too big a call to hope for the best without seeking expert advice. OP, it’s Public Health England you want. The average medic knows much less about rabies than the average vet, for obvious reasons, so do please get a risk assessment from someone who’s been trained about this.

TarnishedMoonstone · 02/08/2025 13:31

PS bat teeth are tiny so can break the skin without leaving a visible mark. You would not necessarily know if you had been bitten by a bat.

Suffolkposy · 02/08/2025 13:32

There’s not been a domestic case of Rabies since 1902. The last two have been holiday makers who went to Morocco.

But go to a walk in Minor Injuries clinic if you think it needs cleaning or looks infected in anyway. Spider bites or horseflies can still give a nasty bite.

BMW6 · 02/08/2025 13:33

I don't understand why you would think Bat to start with!

Frogs88 · 02/08/2025 13:35

Honestly I wouldn’t risk it. Rabies is too serious to wait and see and hope for the best. The risk might be low but it isn’t none so at least phone 111.

MrsSkylerWhite · 02/08/2025 13:36

DartmoorWanderer · 02/08/2025 12:04

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

Completely unnecessary comment.

GreenFrogYellow · 02/08/2025 13:39

If you think you’ve been bitten by a bat, you need treatment.
a doctor can’t tell you if you have or have not been bitten by a bat. If you tell them you think you have they will treat you as if you have. You are not silly to seek help if you feel you’ve been bitten by a bat.

justasking111 · 02/08/2025 13:42

Vivienne1000 · 02/08/2025 13:00

Never ever touch a bat with your own hands. Wear thick gloves and protection over body and face. Rabies absolutely has been found in bats in this country. Rare, but it’s there.

Show quote history

Bats are nocturnal, she never saw a bat 🦇. FHS.

justasking111 · 02/08/2025 13:44

This is the battiest thread I've read in a long time

BlueRidgeMountain · 02/08/2025 13:44

Not likely to be a bat bite of you got those branches off the floor - bats generally prefer to roost higher up (barn roof, caves, trees). Surely it’s more likely there were a couple of thorns/sharp bits of stick that cave you those marks.

justasking111 · 02/08/2025 13:47

In our village we're blessed with bats. Watching them come out at dusk from a friend's loft is wonderful. We sit on the decking in the evening as the sun sets, dusk falls over our pond. The bats swooping back and forth eating the midges.

ThePhantomoftheEcobubbleOpera · 02/08/2025 13:52

Rabies! Calm down Cujo, it's probably just a scratch.

dogcatkitten · 02/08/2025 13:56

Feelingworriied · 02/08/2025 12:52

Yeah I'm not afraid I got bit of a random bat flying through the woods in daylight, more it might have been on one of the logs/branches that I picked up and potentially squashed it.

I agree a spider bite is much more likely but it must have been quite a bite to make that much blood, and there's no redness that you'd expect with a spider bite. I think I'll just have to take the embarrassment and ask a professional 😳

Were there thorns on the branches? I think you would have felt a bat bite if it was deep enough to cause a lot of bleeding. Go back and look through the logs for a dead bat! I don't even know where I would go to get a bat bite identified. My first thought wouldn't be that I had been bitten by a bat, that I didn't see or feel, if I found a couple of marks and a little bit of bleeding having been gathering logs, but if you are worried get it checked.

MarxistMags · 02/08/2025 13:58

@Orangetwirlandtea I think the treatment is a silver bullet actually.🤣🤣

Original poster
Feelingworriied · 02/08/2025 13:59

All I know is i was bitten by something that left two puncture marks, it wasn't a graze or a scratch. There was dried blood and the whole thing disappeared once cleaned, I can't see any marks now on the skin but could before wiping.

There's no irritation or swelling, no itchiness.

Thought process went,

  • oh there's blood on my arm
  • oh there's two little bite marks, looks like a spider bite
  • weird, its not red or itchy
remembers reading about bat bites
  • googles bats at that location and worry sets in.
OP posts:
Ladydish · 02/08/2025 14:00

DartmoorWanderer · 02/08/2025 12:04

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

This!

Original poster
Feelingworriied · 02/08/2025 14:03

Not sure why that's in bold. Thanks to the posters who didnt make me feel crazy. I still can't decide what to do.

@TarnishedMoonstone do you know if the vaccine you get for going abroad is the same as the treatment you get if you do get bit?

OP posts:
MarxistMags · 02/08/2025 14:03

As far as I know the UK has been rabies free for about 70 years because of our strict quarantine laws and procedures .