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

[SameOldMe]

Sitting in the garden and i bet flew into my head, no obvious marks or bites but terrified me ! Called 111 and they said as no scratches or bites just wait and see. It flew into my hair and in the panic i have no idea if it made contact or not. AIBU to call back and ask for a second opinion? Appreciate this if the second bat post in the last few days.

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.

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

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.

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

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

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?

Go to A&E OP.

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

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.

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.

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

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.

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.)

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.

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.

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.

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!

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.

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.

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

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

I would go to a&e myself. You probably do need a post exposure jab, and while they won’t have one there in stock if you go now you’ll get put into the system and they will refer you to someone that does have it tomorrow.

the fact that the bat got tangled in you at all is reason to go - a healthy bat’s echolocation wouldn’t fail it that badly

That is simply not true. A family member had a possible slight scratch from a bat and was given rabies vaccine through the local A&E They said Rabies was highly unlikely but not impossible.

Don't wait, go to A&E and get vaccinated, it's not worth the risk as there is no treatment and rabies is fatal without the vaccine which won't help after 24 hours.