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.

I didn't get the ig one. I'd have had to fly to another country to stand a chance if finding it. And there wasn't the time for that.

So I got the standard stuff, in my arm. The dog bite was on my calf.

I had a conversation about this very thing with a friend who is a medic (A&E doctor) a few weeks ago, as we were talking about that old viral video of the Irish guys with the bat in the kitchen.

based on the conversation with my pal, this laywoman would
say:

Yes it is serious, yes there is rabies in bats in the UK, yes OP should go to A&E, yes they have a protocol follow there, and yes she probably, statistically HASN’T been exposed, but NO it’s not worth the risk of “waiting to see” when there is a vaccine available which is 100% effective if given in the right timeframe. And if she has been exposed - which none of us can know- she will 100% be dead without it.

Not to worry you OP. But you do need vaccinating is my understanding. Go private if the NHS aren’t following their own protocols- and then when you’ve got the headspace, complain very very very loudly about the incorrect advice you received from 111.

Similar thing happened to us recently. Woke up to a bat in our bedroom. Contact with the bat couldn’t be established as we had been sleeping. Quick call to nhs 111 - (it was the weekend) and we were given an appointment to the infectious diseases dept of hospital for post exposure treatment. The risk is tiny but essential to get medical advice. Be prepared though. The immunoglobulin injection is quite sore!

If you don’t have broken skin, how would any possible blood born infection get into you?

Without a break to you skin the only possible route of any infection would be via fleas/mites (don’t think bats have them but could be wrong) or contact eg fungal or bacterial (also doubtful). Neither of these routes are a way to get rabies, even in a country which actually has rabies.

You might want to google bats and rabies in the Uk

This is the most helpful post here.

If I've read all this right, you probably are eligible for post-exposure treatment. So I'd definitely try again with the NHS.

Oh my goodness, it's shocking the amount of incorrect answer being given on here my multiple people!!

Although rare, and limited to certain species, bats do carry rabies in the UK. If they scratch or bite, it's absolutely a risk, albeit a small one.

It's also hard to tell if you have been bitten or scratched by a bat, but if it was in your hair, chances are it might have scratched your scalp!! I would want the jaba.

This could be a French bat. Please be careful as France has rabies.

As she's gone quiet, I'm guessing that OP has headed for A&E. And not taken Hebe's rather strange advice to put her feet up.

But you don't always know if you've been bitten and it doesn't leave a mark. It says that clearly in the leaflet someone helpfully posted.

Bat bites and scratches are so tiny that they can be hard to see on a clear part of the body, almost impossible on the scalp.

It would be idiotic to ignore this. Death is 100% if you get infected. Easily avoided with a post exposure jab. Why not?

Honestly stuff of nightmares for me. They terrify me, shudders I hate them.

hopefully you’re in England and should be fine but if a foreign bat has attacked you this could spell serious danger.

Maybe, after this example of spectacularly moronic advice, mumsnetters will be less inclined to bleat ‘Call 111!’ Not holding my breath, mind.
‘111 - always overcautious unless there’s an actual risk.’

I cant imagine how awful it must have been to have a bat fly into your hair OP. I hope you can get the all clear asap.

A bat landed on my son's hand. There were no scratches or bite marks, but the advice online said he should seek medical advice. 111 were no help and told him to go the pharmacy, who then sent him straight to A&E. He was told there that bat teeth are so fine, there are not always visible puncture marks and you should always have the rabies vaccine as a precaution.

Bloody hell. Call back when you have symptomatic rabies!

Do you think this bat could be mentally ill?

I'm so disappointed that 111 advised to wait and see. That really does warrant a complaint.

Bats usually have excellent echolocation, a healthy bat would be very unlikely to crash into a human.

Could it be a radioactive bat that escaped from a science lab? You might turn into a superhero with special bat powers.

@HebeMumsnet Get the rabies vaccine. The chance may be vanishingly low, but it's not worth the tiny risk when you can avoid that tiny risk.

You can go to your local A&E and they usually have the first rabies shot you need in stock. After that your GP has to organise the rest. It’s a bit of a pfaff but they’ll do it if you’re concerned.

You need to do it asap

I understood that bays have very small claws and teeth and you may not even feel a scratch or bite. It's also hard to see how you can ch CK it properly on you scalp.

Ultimately rabies can exist in bats even in the UK and rabies is pretty much 100% fatal once symptoms start.... So go get the jabs asap....

And do you ever play poker where if you lose the hand you die a painful death?

You may have a good understanding of odds but you have no understanding of risk.