Bat Bite Follow Up

[jaideeguy]

Earlier this morning I posted about my neighbor being bit by a bat and two replies and google said to go into the hospital or seek medical attention immediately. She did, and went to the local amphor hospital, where thay said they had no anti rabies meds in stock and to go to a private hospital.

She did and they had the meds @ 25,000THB+ for complete treatment of 6 rounds of injections.

She consulted with three drs and all said the same thing 'all Thai bats have [or carry] rabies'.

Just passing this info onto anyone not to handle bats dead or alive, as their saliva can transmit the disease as well.

News to me and hopefully a warning to others.........

[bkkjames]

Earlier this morning I posted about my neighbor being bit by a bat and two replies and google said to go into the hospital or seek medical attention immediately. She did, and went to the local amphor hospital, where thay said they had no anti rabies meds in stock and to go to a private hospital.

She did and they had the meds @ 25,000THB+ for complete treatment of 6 rounds of injections.

She consulted with three drs and all said the same thing 'all Thai bats have [or carry] rabies'.

Just passing this info onto anyone not to handle bats dead or alive, as their saliva can transmit the disease as well.

News to me and hopefully a warning to others.........

just curious, do all thai bats carry rabies? seems to me like a bit of a stretch and I know, unlike a dog that bites you, you cant track it down and kill it and check but one would think there would be much more publicised in the general press on a regular basis about this dangerous animal?

anyways, glad to here things are working out well.

[GuestHouse]

The suggestion that all Thai bats have or carry Rabies is nonsense. Rabies kills the animal carrying the disease just as it kills the person who catches Rabies from that animal.

However, one should always assume that a bite from a bat, dog, cat or other mammal is a Rabies exposure risk and therefore get immediate medical treatment.

Mind, Rabies is not the only risk here. Charging Bht25K for a course of treatment is ridiculous. Two cases of Rabies treatment I know of have in the last year cost less than a quarter of that amount.

[bkkjames]

The suggestion that all Thai bats have or carry Rabies is nonsense. Rabies kills the animal carrying the disease just as it kills the person who catches Rabies from that animal.

However, one should always assume that a bite from a bat, dog, cat or other mammal is a Rabies exposure risk and therefore get immediate medical treatment.

Mind, Rabies is not the only risk here. Charging Bht25K for a course of treatment is ridiculous. Two cases of Rabies treatment I know of have in the last year cost less than a quarter of that amount.

Shhh GH, don't let the cat out of the bag, the doctors got a good racket going with handing out 1000 baht pills for the sniffles.

[Pierrot]

just curious, do all thai bats carry rabies? seems to me like a bit of a stretch and I know, unlike a dog that bites you, you cant track it down and kill it and check but one would think there would be much more publicised in the general press on a regular basis about this dangerous animal?

anyways, glad to here things are working out well.

The problem is there is no cure for rabies. Once the symptoms appear, it's too late ! So don’t try to be smart, if you’ve been bitten by any animal you don’t know, just go straight to the hospital and get the shots!

[bkkjames]

just curious, do all thai bats carry rabies? seems to me like a bit of a stretch and I know, unlike a dog that bites you, you cant track it down and kill it and check but one would think there would be much more publicised in the general press on a regular basis about this dangerous animal?

anyways, glad to here things are working out well.

The problem is there is no cure for rabies. Once the symptoms appear, it's too late ! So don’t try to be smart, if you’ve been bitten by any animal you don’t know, just go straight to the hospital and get the shots!

not to joke about this serious topic, but if you are out and about on a friday or sat night in sukhumvit and come across a middle aged balding farang guy with whitish stuff on the corners of his mouth - do not be alarmed. he doesn't have rabies - he just lacks personal hygiene

[Pierrot]

not to joke about this serious topic, but if you are out and about on a friday or sat night in sukhumvit and come across a middle aged balding farang guy with whitish stuff on the corners of his mouth - do not be alarmed. he doesn't have rabies - he just lacks personal hygiene

Is it this guy you're talking about ?

[jaideeguy]

The suggestion that all Thai bats have or carry Rabies is nonsense. Rabies kills the animal carrying the disease just as it kills the person who catches Rabies from that animal."

Not true.....animals and reptiles can be carriers of the disease and not suffer from the symptoms. Snakes, even non venomous can be carriers.

[Owain]

According to recent research only 7.3% of bats in Thailand carry rabies but which ones are they. Better to not take the chance and die.

[soundman]

From personal experience (wife got bit by a monkey in Hua Hin after teasing it! ) and reading of similar experieces on this forum, a typical regime for rabies shots costs between 2500 - 5000B.

[joskydive]

Excellent scare tactic to get 25,000+baht out of her! I paid 3,000baht for the complete treatment.

[tgeezer]

The suggestion that all Thai bats have or carry Rabies is nonsense. Rabies kills the animal carrying the disease just as it kills the person who catches Rabies from that animal."

Not true.....animals and reptiles can be carriers of the disease and not suffer from the symptoms. Snakes, even non venomous can be carriers.

Rabies is very topical at the moment this is the third thread, and a lot of people are getting ripped off I wonder if the carrier thing is an attempt to sell the complete set of shots. The doctor at my first clinic (which with hindsight doesn't seem such a rip-off being only twice what I am paying for the subsequent shots)said that.

The World Health Org. who are not famous for frugality, states that the animal will die within seven days and if is alive after ten the shots can be discontinued. Treatment is days 1,4,8,15,& 21. It is not worth taking a chance but where does the carrier thing come from; behavior of the animal is no indication because it affects each differntly some violent others passive, could this be seed of the carrier story.

[tgeezer]

She did and they had the meds @ 25,000THB+ for complete treatment of 6 rounds of injections.

Just a thought for your neighbour, the price is so excessive, multiples from 2-3 of the most pricey, that I believe that she might go back to the hospital and try for a refund.

[BygonKeaw]

The suggestion that all Thai bats have or carry Rabies is nonsense. Rabies kills the animal carrying the disease just as it kills the person who catches Rabies from that animal.

However, one should always assume that a bite from a bat, dog, cat or other mammal is a Rabies exposure risk and therefore get immediate medical treatment.

Mind, Rabies is not the only risk here. Charging Bht25K for a course of treatment is ridiculous. Two cases of Rabies treatment I know of have in the last year cost less than a quarter of that amount.

Shhh GH, don't let the cat out of the bag, the doctors got a good racket going with handing out 1000 baht pills for the sniffles.

I wish i was bkkjames he seems so clever!

[bina]

mammals can carry up to about 6 months (in grazing animals like antelopes for instance)...as far as i know (and i DO know, reptiles cannot be carriers of rabies, it is a mammal hosted disease, but i could learn something new i guess if someone will show me; no zoo or petting zoo i have contact with has ever mentioned this.)

behavior of a carrier is normal

carnivores react faster, i.e. carry less time before presenting symtoms.. if u cn recognize them

very possibly the rest of the money is for antibiotics, tetanus etc

there are other zoonotic diseases connected to bats including a virus that also causes symtoms similar to rabies...

bina

israel

[12DrinkMore]

keep the windows closed around full moon.

And don't meddle with the bats, dogs, monkeys, cats, reptiles. Go on tell us, how on earth did you get bitten by a bat?

[Jockstar]

keep the windows closed around full moon.

And don't meddle with the bats, dogs, monkeys, cats, reptiles. Go on tell us, how on earth did you get bitten by a bat?

He didnt but his neighbour did.

[jaideeguy]

The bat flew into her house thru an open door in the early evening [eratic behavoir=rabies?] and she made the mistake of picking up the beast by hand to release it back to the outdoors.

And Bina....I had heard somewhere that a non venomous snake, such as a boa, can eat an infected rat/bat or whatever and carry the virus in it's saliva......can be??

And the dr told my neighbor that if it was a dog that bit her, the treatment would have been much cheaper, but because it was a bat, then it is BIG Baht.......maybe "there are other zoonotic diseases connected to bats including a virus that also causes symtoms similar to rabies..."

[IMA_FARANG]

Earlier this morning I posted about my neighbor being bit by a bat and two replies and google said to go into the hospital or seek medical attention immediately. She did, and went to the local amphor hospital, where thay said they had no anti rabies meds in stock and to go to a private hospital.

She did and they had the meds @ 25,000THB+ for complete treatment of 6 rounds of injections.

She consulted with three drs and all said the same thing 'all Thai bats have [or carry] rabies'.

Just passing this info onto anyone not to handle bats dead or alive, as their saliva can transmit the disease as well.

News to me and hopefully a warning to others.........

No, not ALL THAI BATS have rabies. However as in other countries the possibility of a bat having been infected with rabies can't be ignored.

Rabies is a deadly disease, with less than 1% of those who develop the actual disease from an animal bite surviving the disease.

For that reason anyone bit by an animal, bat, dog, cat, or whatever that might have rabies needs to get treatment started as soon as possible. Probably only a small percentage of those bitten will actually develop rabies. but it is like playing Russian Roulette with a loaded gun, even if the odds are in your favor, the result can be so bad it is a silly thing not to treat it.

If you can, try to capture of kill the animal that bit you, in the case of the bat, kill it. The animals brain can be tested for the rabies virus. This test used to take a week or so, it required growing a culture from the brain cells, and the growing culture being tested. That is an old test, there may be a newer and quicker test today. I'm not a doctor, so I don't know. I would suspect there is a quicker test with todays technology.

But, no matter what it costs and the pain/inconvenience of the injsctions, don't assume you don't need the treatment until the animal is proved to be free of rabies.

If you don't start the injections, and you do need them, your chance of survival once Rabies develops is very low. And the injections need to be started quickly after you are bit.

It is a suckers bet otherwise.

[TerryLH]

"Snakes, even non venomous can be carriers."

Even in a serious thread you can find something to laugh about.

This is not true. It's a cold blooded versus warm blooded animal thing.

To be fair, though, I suppose if you'd never had any dealings with rabies, never had to vaccinate a pet, then you might believe this if someone told you it was true, and here in Thailand looked you in the eye and said, 'jing jing'.

For most bites from domestic animals, in the US, the animal is quarantined for ten days. If still alive at that point, you're safe. The animal, once at the point of being able to transmit the disease, will die within that ten day period. It would not be too late to start rabies shots then.

[way2muchcoffee]

Yep, they saw you coming. I was bitten by a dog a couple of years ago and it was a fairly deep puncture wound. Rabies shots and daily cleaning/change of dressing for a week at the clinic ran me about 4k in total.

[Hssl]

25k - wow were the needles made of gold.

I had the course of Rabies injections last year and it cost 3k - with the little booklet stamped and signed to prove i have had the course

Edited January 17, 2009 by Hssl

[jaideeguy]

This quote from wikipedia says that bats can be vectors of other diseases as well as rabies, so maybe the high cost was for other pathogens/diseases that bat bites can carry........

Bats are natural reservoirs or vectors for a large number of zoonotic pathogens[24] including rabies,[25] severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS),[26] Henipavirus (ie. Nipah virus and Hendra virus)[27] and possibly ebola virus[28].[29] Their high mobility, broad distribution, and social behaviour (communal roosting, fission-fusion social structure) make bats favourable hosts and vectors of disease. Many species also appear to have a high tolerance for harbouring pathogens and often do not develop disease while infected.

Only 0.5% of bats carry rabies. However, of the few cases of rabies reported in the United States every year, most are caused by bat bites.[30] Although most bats do not have rabies, those that do may be clumsy, disoriented, and unable to fly, which makes it more likely that they will come into contact with humans. Although one should not have an unreasonable fear of bats, one should avoid handling them or having them in one's living space, as with any wild animal. If a bat is found in living quarters near a child, mentally handicapped person, intoxicated person, sleeping person, or pet, the person or pet should receive immediate medical attention for rabies. Bats have very small teeth and can bite a sleeping person without being felt. There is evidence that it is possible for the bat rabies virus to infect victims purely through airborne transmission, without direct physical contact of the victim with the bat itself.[31][32]

If a bat is found in a house and the possibility of exposure cannot be ruled out, the bat should be sequestered and an animal control officer called immediately, so that the bat can be analysed. This also applies if the bat is found dead. If it is certain that nobody has been exposed to the bat, it should be removed from the house. The best way to do this is to close all the doors and windows to the room except one to the outside. The bat should soon leave.

Due to the risk of rabies and also due to health problems related to their faecal droppings (guano), bats should be excluded from inhabited parts of houses. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention provides full detailed information on all aspects of bat management, including how to capture a bat, what to do in case of exposure, and how to bat-proof a house humanely.[33] In certain countries, such as the United Kingdom, it is illegal to handle bats without a license.

[jaideeguy]

My bat bit neighbor showed me the vaccination card they gave her and it is an official WHO paper and i'm sure that the hospital was just going thru normal WHO protocal.

[JimmyTheMook]

Had a soi dog bite me and went thru the course of rabies shots @ 700 baht a pop from a local hospital , none of the local clinics stored the vaccine.

Better safe than sorry as the disease lies dormant in many animals.

[TerryLH]

I don't think anyone is saying getting the shots is bad, it's the amount they charged for them that seem to be a bit off.