Brantford, Ont.-area child dies from rabies after contact with a bat - first domestically acquired case of human rabies in Ontario since 1967

[Fabled Automatic]

Dr. Malcolm Lock of the Haldimand-Norfolk Health Unit told councillors at a board of health meeting Wednesday that the child had been exposed to the virus in the Timiskaming region, just north of Sudbury.

"They woke up with a bat in their room," Lock said. "The parents looked, didn't see any signs of a bite or scratches or saliva, and didn't seek getting a rabies vaccine."

Brantford, Ont.-area child dies from rabies after contact with a bat, health official says

 

[Fabled Automatic]

Rabies is the deadliest disease in the world and is listed as having a 100% fatality rate.

WHO - Rabies

Anecdotally, I've long heard that bats have such fine teeth it is possible to have been bitten without realizing it. If you've been in close contact with a bat, it is best to go get a rabies booster.

Unrelated, but the same goes for possible tetanus exposure. Yes, we all got the shot as kids, but you're supposed to get a booster each time you may have been exposed.

 

[LadyL]

I just had a bat incident about a month ago. It got in the house and the cats had it surrounded. All cats had to be rabies boosted since they potentially touched the bat. We put it outside in a towel and after a minute, it flew away (we thought it was dead). I used to work with bats and have very little fear of them. It came almost 4 years to the day we had the same thing occur.

from the article:

It is the first domestically acquired case of human rabies in Ontario since 1967 and the first ever of a Brantford-Brant resident.

Since reporting began in 1924, there have been 26 cases of rabies in Canada, some of which occurred after exposure to a rabid animal outside the country, according to the federal government. All 26 cases were fatal.

 

[Rikissa]

Unrelated, but the same goes for possible tetanus exposure. Yes, we all got the shot as kids, but you're supposed to get a booster each time you may have been exposed.

If you have been fully vaccinated as an infant/young child (5-dose DTaP) and had an additional dose as a 11/12 year old, then you only need a booster vaccination every 10 year by the CDC recommendations.

Tetanus Vaccine Recommendations

CDC recommends tetanus vaccines for people for people of all ages.

www.cdc.gov

 

[mickey2942]

My own opinion, is that rabies is under diagnosed. A few summers ago, I noticed my husband's hand had two small punctures on his hand. He didn’t even notice them, they were very small, set together, just like identical pin pricks on his hand. Since bats with rabies had been identified in our area, I looked at pictures on the web of "bat bites". They looked like a bite to me.

I took him to the ER, and the doctor agreed with me, and gave my husband the series of shots.

My husband didn't even know he had been bitten. He often sits outside on the deck in the summer, watching the sunset. With a dish of cherries or grapes next to him. And he does doze off...

Well, long story...but if you look at rabies, it causes dememtia...and I wonder how many elderly people may actually have rabies, unidentified...

 

[Dotta]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1842656594728767906

Bats circling

 

[musicaljoke]

My own opinion, is that rabies is under diagnosed. A few summers ago, I noticed my husband's hand had two small punctures on his hand. He didn’t even notice them, they were very small, set together, just like identical pin pricks on his hand. Since bats with rabies had been identified in our area, I looked at pictures on the web of "bat bites". They looked like a bite to me.

I took him to the ER, and the doctor agreed with me, and gave my husband the series of shots.

My husband didn't even know he had been bitten. He often sits outside on the deck in the summer, watching the sunset. With a dish of cherries or grapes next to him. And he does doze off...

Well, long story...but if you look at rabies, it causes dememtia...and I wonder how many elderly people may actually have rabies, unidentified...

Dementia is a symptom, but rabies doesn't stop until the person is dead, and that usually happens within a few days after dementia symptoms are apparent because by then rabies is in the brain.

Rabies is horrible. Thankfully we have a good vaccine. Can rabies eventually be eradicated? Perhaps.

 

[sunspun]

So are they saying you can get rabies from a bat just by being in close contact with one, without even having been bitten? Or is it that you only get it if you were bitten, but sometimes you don't realize you've been bitten?

 

[GhostFromThePast]

I just heard about this yesterday. So sad and horrific.

 

[musicaljoke]

So are they saying you can get rabies from a bat just by being in close contact with one, without even having been bitten? Or is it that you only get it if you were bitten, but sometimes you don't realize you've been bitten?

"Sometimes the saliva will drool onto you, and you could have a minor open cut. Or sometimes a bat will lick on the skin and, again, transmit the virus that way." Jason Howland: Dr. Poland says that's why if you wake up and find a bat in the room, you should get the rabies vaccine."

Rabies-Rabies - Symptoms & causes - Mayo Clinic

Learn about this deadly virus that most often spreads to people through the bite of an infected animal.

www.mayoclinic.org

 

[Fabled Automatic]

If you have been fully vaccinated as an infant/young child (5-dose DTaP) and had an additional dose as a 11/12 year old, then you only need a booster vaccination every 10 year by the CDC recommendations.

Tetanus Vaccine Recommendations

CDC recommends tetanus vaccines for people for people of all ages.

www.cdc.gov

Thanks for the link. I would still prefer to err on the side of caution. The advice to get a booster after a potential exposure was given to me by the head nurse at one of the hospitals I used to work at. I trusted her opinion a great deal.