Actually exposed to a bat... worried about rabies

So I went in to work around 6 a.m, still a little dark out, but the sun was coming up. I get to my work station (factory warehouse) and begin working. Shortly thereafter I noticed a full grown bat laying on the floor in my work area, it’s front legs/arms moving, or twitching, so I called my supervisor and told him to dispose of it. Meanwhile, a gentleman I worked with thought it’d be funny to step on it, which he did repeatedly despite me telling him not to. So.... my biggest worry is that somehow I may have gotten some of the bats saliva on my shoes, because the moron I work with and I tread about the area and then that rabies virus may have transferred from my shoe to a scratch on my hand/arm (I have many of them) It’s been three or four days now and I’m wondering if this is a vaccine type of situation? My doctor is nearly impossible to get ahold of thanks to COVID 19, so I’ll have to make a trip to the ER If so.

P.s at no point did I ever touch the bat with my own shoe and especially not my hands.

Hi - I have had a few bat encounters and am very phobic about rabies (good reason as it's a serious disease). When this happened to me I called my county health department to ask them for their advice. Two times they recommended I get the rabies vaccine as it is better to be safe than sorry. So I would suggest you call them and ask their advice. Where I live the county will pay for the vaccines and they are only administered in the ER.

Now, here's some bad advice from me, lol. If you are really, really, really concerned about rabies and want the vaccine regardless of what they tell you, then make your situation sound a little more serious than it is. They may not think your case warrants it based on what you say, though a twitching bat really isn't a good thing to see.

For what it's worth, I think what your co-worker did is terrible. What is wrong with him?

Thanks so much for your response! I was most likely going to regardless, but my wife thinks
I’m Nuts for even giving it a thought. As far as my coworker goes... it’s a factory. There’s a lot of idiots like that where I work.

Hi

This is just a courtesy reply to let you know that your post was moved from its original place to a sub-forum that is more relevant to your problem.

This is nothing personal - it just enables us to keep posts about the same problems in the relevant forums so other members with any experience with the issues can find them more easily.

Regards

Elen Admin

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Originally Posted by FamilyPicnic

Now, here's some bad advice from me, lol. If you are really, really, really concerned about rabies and want the vaccine regardless of what they tell you, then make your situation sound a little more serious than it is. They may not think your case warrants it based on what you say....

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DO NOT LIE TO GET A VACCINE YOU DON'T NEED! Its not only unwarranted and wrong, its not healthy!

Positive thoughts

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Originally Posted by Fishmanpa

DO NOT LIE TO GET A VACCINE YOU DON'T NEED! Its not only unwarranted and wrong, its not healthy!

Positive thoughts

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Good point fishmanpa! I’ve never in my life been worried about rabies up until this point. I was actually really surprised to see that it has its own forum given how rare it is. A friend of mine had a rabies scare a couple years ago when he found A dead one in his kitchen and he isn’t the type to worry like myself. I’m just not sure if it’s something I should worry about or not... I think the saliva being transported all over my area via work shoes and introduced to one of my cuts as a result could qualify as magical thinking, but it’s also questionable in my mind that it may not be.

Sorry, but this is totally magical thinking. As FMP has said, lying to get an unneeded vaccine is a bad idea on very many levels.

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Originally Posted by BlueIris

Sorry, but this is totally magical thinking. As FMP has said, lying to get an unneeded vaccine is a bad idea on very many levels.

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Yeah, you are right, It definitely is magical thinking. No need to apologize for being blunt, that’s kind of why I post stuff here.

I’m updating this in case anyone worrying about rabies ends up reading this thread. My doctor said since I didn’t touch the bat he isn’t even Little concerned, he also said given the nature of my health anxiety he’d be willing to suggest I get the vaccine for “peace of mind”...I declined, because I’ve been a hypochondriac for a very long time and I know that doing tests for “peace of mind” just keeps the cycle of health anxiety turning. That’s all I have :)

Sending huge internet hugs your way - that's brilliant! As an internet stranger I have no right to be proud of you, but I am anyway.

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Originally Posted by BlueIris

Sending huge internet hugs your way - that's brilliant! As an internet stranger I have no right to be proud of you, but I am anyway.

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Thank you :) I appreciate your kind words and the feedback you gave earlier.