Mountain Project Logo

Bitten by Bat?!

Original Post
Aaron Hope · · San Luis Obispo · Joined Nov 2009 · Points: 341

The other day I was climbing in Yosemite (the aid route on Swan Slab), reached into jam the crack and accidently poked a bat in the face. Rightfully so, the poor guy was pissed and scratched and (I think) bit my hand. A nurse who overheard my infant-like scream came over and informed me that even a seemlingly insignfacnt brush with a bat in Yosemite is a serious deal and I needed a Rabies shot/vaccine right away. Overall, the chance of actual transmission is low, but if infected rabbies has a 100% fatality rate. So, I reluctantly cut our weekend trip short to get the shot, much to the dismay of my climbing partners and wallet.

Curious who else has been bitten/sctatched by a bat while climbing and if they did or did not get the shot?

Darby S · · Snoqualmie, wa · Joined Feb 2010 · Points: 0

Getting the shot was the right course of action, don't ever 2nd guess it.

todd w · · Unknown Hometown · Joined May 2008 · Points: 0

A bat under a flake? Seems pretty normal to me. The bats with rabies would be acting strangely (e.g., flopping around on your lawn during the day).

All mammals can get rabies. Most people get rabies from cats, not bats.

The nurse freaked out because she bought into the same notion that everyone does.

How much did the shots cost?

todd w · · Unknown Hometown · Joined May 2008 · Points: 0
CJC wrote:I had the same thing happen to me and the high mortality rate of rabies convinced me to get the shots. sucked but what can you do? I was told if I had the bat they could test it but I didn't grab it.
Yes--the only way to determine if the animal had rabies is to kill it and examine part of its brain tissue.

Easy decision for a bat, not so easy when it's your neighbor's dog who bit you.
1Eric Rhicard · · Tucson · Joined Feb 2006 · Points: 10,101

Got scratched by a cat in 1973 in Ankara Turkey as a kid. Looked hard for it but didn't find it so I got 14 shots, one a day in a circle around my abdomen, then a booster a week apart. It sucked. With the high mortality rate I would probably get one as well. Still love cats and bats.

Aaron Hope · · San Luis Obispo · Joined Nov 2009 · Points: 341
todd w wrote: The bats with rabies would be acting strangely (e.g., flopping around on your lawn during the day).
Yea - that's what I thought also. But the park nurse said that the incubation time (time between transmission and symptoms) can take weeks even years in some animals. In these cases, the animal would show no obvious signs.

I haven't gotten the bill yet, but from what the doctor said the initial shot itself costs several hundred plus. The crappy thing is that you have to go to the ER to get the first one so that adds mucho $$$ to the overall bill. Then you have 5 follow-up shots over the next month.
Paul-B · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Mar 2011 · Points: 115

PSH... is not 100% case fatality. There have been 6 recorded instances of people surviving rabies. Look up the Milwaukee protocol. Should've risked it.

Obviously joking. You did the right thing.

Also, the only way to determine if the animal has rabies is not a brain biopsy, common practice (in the case of neighbors dog as stated earlier) is to quarantine the dog, watch it for 10 days. If it shows no sign of infection, no treatment is warranted. This is because if the animal is in the infectious state of the disease it progresses very quickly, therefore 10 days is plenty to find out if the animal is infected. In the case of a wild animal that was killed a brain biopsy would be done, treatment would be initiated if animal was infected, if not, obviously no treatment. In your case as the animal was not captured, treatment will always be initiated. You absolutely did the right thing by getting the treatment, bats are the most common way for rabies to be spread in the US currently, and in the earlier infectious stage of the disease (high salivary titer of virus), you may not readily be able to notice the CNS symptoms of the virus.

Glenn Schuler · · Monument, Co. · Joined Jun 2006 · Points: 1,330

I wouldn't second guess yourself, better safe than sorry right!

A long time ago my partner reached into a pocket and a bat bit or scratched his knuckle pretty good. He was freaked out but never went to the doctor. We were in high school and didn't know any better.

fossana · · leeds, ut · Joined Apr 2006 · Points: 13,318
todd w wrote:Most people get rabies from cats, not bats.
This is not true in the US. Wildlife represents the primary reservoir of rabies in the US and the primary source of rabies strains in confirmed cases. Among the 6,154 reported rabid animals in 2010 bats constituted 23.2% while cats were 4.9%. Raccoons were the highest at 36.5%.
avmajournals.avma.org/doi/p…

Since 2011 there have only been 29 confirmed cases in the US, which includes those that were exposed in other countries.

p.s. Aaron, you did the right thing by getting the shot.
Dan Bachen · · Helena, MT · Joined Mar 2010 · Points: 1,083

Just one shot? From what understand the treatment is a series of shots to pump you so full of antibodies (derived form horse serum) that any virus in your system is destroyed. They are expensive, I've looked into getting the pre-exposure series for research purposes but the cost has been prohibitive. As other people have stated earlier your probably going to be fine, at most bat test positive for rabies ~2% of the time (which could be positively biased by how the bats are selected to be tested). That being said rabies is almost always fatal, and a very bad way to go so is it worth risking it?

Nick Venechuk · · Golden, CO · Joined Sep 2008 · Points: 60

I was bitten by a bat many, MANY years ago. This was before people knew about vaccines or, indeed, rabies. I was fortunate enough to avoid the disease however before long *OTHER* symptoms developed. Bloodlust, hatred of sunlight, inability to cross flowing water, and of course I no longer cast a reflection. The last one is not a problem as my hair is always immaculately slicked back.

Fortunately I no longer have to deal with crowds at my local crag because I only climb at night, and if I get really pumped I can just levitate myself past the crux. Also no need to ever rope up.

All in all I'd say I regret not getting the shot but as I'm technically UNdead I am pleased to have beaten the odds.

Paul-B · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Mar 2011 · Points: 115
Dan Bachen wrote:Just one shot? From what understand the treatment is a series of shots to pump you so full of antibodies (derived form horse serum) that any virus in your system is destroyed.
They give you a shot of horse anti serum around the bite, it will only neutralize rabies virus. All the other shots received are a post exposure prophylactic vaccine. The time course of rabies infection is so slow that your body can mount an immune response, become sensitized by the vaccine and clear the virus before it reaches the CNS.
Dan Bachen · · Helena, MT · Joined Mar 2010 · Points: 1,083

@ Paul, Wasn't really stating that it would cure the common cold, but thanks for clarifying

Paul-B · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Mar 2011 · Points: 115
Dan Bachen wrote:@ Paul, Wasn't really stating that it would cure the common cold, but thanks for clarifying
Sorry, not was what I was trying to imply, I was just saying its one shot of antibodies, the rest is a vaccine.
Ryan Williams · · London (sort of) · Joined May 2009 · Points: 1,245
aaron hope wrote:The other day I was climbing in Yosemite (the aid route on Swan Slab), reached into jam the crack and accidently poked a bat in the face. Rightfully so, the poor guy was pissed and scratched and (I think) bit my hand. A nurse who overheard my infant-like scream came over and informed me that even a seemlingly insignfacnt brush with a bat in Yosemite is a serious deal and I needed a Rabies shot/vaccine right away. Overall, the chance of actual transmission is low, but if infected rabbies has a 100% fatality rate. So, I reluctantly cut our weekend trip short to get the shot, much to the dismay of my climbing partners and wallet. Curious who else has been bitten/sctatched by a bat while climbing and if they did or did not get the shot?
You have to get the shot. No brainer. If you get rabies, you will die an agonising death.

You're lucky you got a single shot. Back in the day (and still in Thailand) you have to get a giant needle in the abdomen, mire than once.
Aaron Hope · · San Luis Obispo · Joined Nov 2009 · Points: 341

Yea, heard the old school shot in the abdomen was rough! But it's still not a walk in the park. I had to get 2 shots in the arm (close to where I was bit) and three in the arse. But I'll take that over rabies any day.

Doug S · · W Pa · Joined Apr 2012 · Points: 55
fossana wrote: This is not true in the US. Wildlife represents the primary reservoir of rabies in the US and the primary source of rabies strains in confirmed cases. Among the 6,154 reported rabid animals in 2010 bats constituted 23.2% while cats were 4.9%. Raccoons were the highest at 36.5%. avmajournals.avma.org/doi/p… Since 2011 there have only been 29 confirmed cases in the US, which includes those that were exposed in other countries. p.s. Aaron, you did the right thing by getting the shot.
In college, I saw a bat presentation from a bio prof who said that the rabies hype was due to the movie "Cujo", and that bats rarely carried. I've wondered because there seems to be differing opinion. It's good to see the actual stats.
PRRose · · Boulder · Joined Feb 2006 · Points: 0
todd w wrote:A bat under a flake? Seems pretty normal to me. The bats with rabies would be acting strangely (e.g., flopping around on your lawn during the day). All mammals can get rabies. Most people get rabies from cats, not bats. The nurse freaked out because she bought into the same notion that everyone does. How much did the shots cost?
From June 2001 through June 2011, there were 28 human cases of rabies in the United States. 20 were bat-related, 5 were dog-related, 1 was fox-related, 1 was raccoon-related, and one was of unknown origin.

Three out of the 28 survived.

Not all cases were due to bite or other contact with the vector--in 2004, an organ donor (who had been bitten by a rabid bat) and three recipients of his organs contracted and died from rabies.
mtoensing · · AZ · Joined Feb 2006 · Points: 705

You're supposed to get a shot if you get bit by a bat? Whoops..

Tim Stich · · Colorado Springs, Colorado · Joined Jan 2001 · Points: 1,520
Matt Toensing wrote:You're supposed to get a shot if you get bit by a bat? Whoops..
Yes, you need to get shot. I love you Old Yeller!

Steve Williams · · The state of confusion · Joined Jul 2005 · Points: 235

There's a nearby hard man that was bitten by a bat
back in the '70's at Carderock, Maryland.
Unfortunately he had to get the old rabies shots,
through the stomach. . .

But he did survive!

Guideline #1: Don't be a jerk.

General Climbing
Post a Reply to "Bitten by Bat?!"

Log In to Reply

Join the Community

Create your FREE account today!
Already have an account? Login to close this notice.

Get Started.