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.

Shave it all off

Irrespective of statistic probability (which I agree, is very small), it's not zero and OP should be vaccinated. To advise anything else is at best irresponsible and dumb.

Has no one read the leaflet previous posters have shared? The NHS say it’s a risk EVEN IN THE UK

Tiny tiny chance of rabies. But there is a chance. Rabies isn’t something to be messed with so go get that set of vaccines. And go now.

Put in a complaint about the 111 handler. That is shockingly stupid advice for rabies. You NEVER “wait and see” with rabies - then it’s too late.

OP I hope you go and get advice and the vaccine if need be today, and all will be well.

Just a note in that this type of virus migrates slowly through the nervous system where it evades our immune system, and makes its way to the brain where it begins to cause those classic systems. The further away from the brain the bite/scratch is, the longer it takes, so if you're bitten on the foot then it can be months before symptoms start, but on your face/head, that's too close for comfort and requires very prompt attention as the time window is far shorter.

Yep. Whilst it’s good mnhq posted the put your feet up and relax was a bit strange too.

Bat incident - don’t wait and see or relax, just get vaccinated.

We dont have rabies here. Move on.

Oh dear. Have you bothered to read the thread?

A small proportion of bats in the UK carry lyssavirus which causes rabies. Since we are so fortunate to have a very effective vaccine, it seems wise to err on the side of caution.

Fair play for coming back and realising you are wrong and posting. You’ve got balls, I like you!

Wow.
Yes, yes we do.
Rabies the fatal kind.
In bats.
Please see all the players posting the medical guidelines that she needs the treatment to minimise the risk of you know, rabies. And death. Even if only a 1% chance. That’s still fuucking high risk if certain death with no treatment? Treat 100 people to save 1 life? The NHS think it’s worth it!

A bat made direct and agitated contact with your head and 111 told you to wait and see if you show symptoms of rabies before calling back??

Yeah, I'd report the shit out of that call handler.

And go to GP right away if you can (they might be able to prescribe whatever needed) and if not then A&E obviously.

Oh OP, that is my worst nightmare. My husband's always saying it could never happen!

I think you need to think more about statistics. 0.5% of bats in the UK carry rabies. The chances of one of those bats being anywhere near any randomly selected person might perhaps be "0.000something%", but the chances of one of those bats having been near someone who is known to have had a bat stuck in her hair are* 0.5%.

I'd want a course of post-exposure prophylaxis.

*In the absence of other information about the species of the bat or geographical distribution of the relevant viruses in bats

waiting for a call back from the GP. My garden backs onto a stream surrounded by woods. Its normally very peaceful and I sit and watch the bats swoop down - never near enough to me in 10 years of living here until last night. Google suggests that the very bat which has the potential to carry rabies is probably most likely the one I had an encounter with.

I hope you get the vaccination ok op. I also think that surely only a sick bat (not necessarily with rabies) would get that close to a human so doubly need to ensure you get the post exposure course.
it’s concerning how little knowledge there is out there about bat lyssavirus.

Was there a sense of urgency to the call back? I hope so

Yes they have called back and waiting for the rabies team to contact me now.

Call back if you have symptoms? Fucking hell that’s bad advice.

Not being funny @SameOldMe but why did you not go to A & E? 'Waiting for the rabies team to call' seems a bit devil-may-care. If the bat did bite/nip you, you would have needed instant medical attention. It's been 14 hours now!

I hope you are OK (and I'm sure you are) but being so lackadaisical about it seems like a bad idea.

Let us know how you get on, if you feel up to it

Really surprised by the tone of a few of the posts on here.
Even if you take the rabies risk away- say the OP had had a mouse/spider/bird on her head and had panicked. There can’t really be any need to be so awful about it.
As it is, had she been put off returning to the thread, combined with dire advice from 111, she would be at considerable risk.
What is it that A&E is for if not this?

I'm quite surprised and heartened that there is actually a rabies team!

Utterly ridiculous and misinformed post. Not only because this is fucking rabies risk we’re talking about, but also in general - it cultivates and perpetuates a bizarre reluctance to “bother” A&E.

The amount of people who would stupidly go to A&E and wait around for hours for a broken toenail is so tiny that it’s dangerous to continue ranting on about “wasting A&E time”. In practice, all this guilt tripping will do is delay genuine, thoughtful patients from seeking help as they’ll waste their own precious survival time wondering if they’re having a heart attack or heartburn.

The vast, vast majority of patients will not go to A&E and sit around to be triaged and wait for hours on end for nothing.