It is important to seek medical care quickly after a physical encounter with a bat. Weiss suggests contacting your local health department and going to the emergency room for a rabies shot and immunoglobulin, an emergency medicine made from human blood that delivers short-term antibodies to help neutralize the rabies virus.
Weiss says it’s better to go to an ER than an urgent care facility, since ERs are more likely to have the treatment you’ll need. “Not all locations will carry the rabies immunoglobulin, so it does also help to either call ahead to the location to check if they have it, or call your local health department. They can usually direct people to a nearby site known to stock rabies treatment, which is often faster than calling around,” she says.
During a medical evaluation, your healthcare provider will assess your risk by getting a detailed history of the exposure to determine if treatment is needed, per Modi. “They will also assess the wound and provide local wound care,” he says. “Often, a public health official will be contacted as well to assist with the assessment.”
Post-exposure prophylaxis (or PEP), the shots you get to prevent rabies infection, “should begin as soon as possible after exposure, ideally the same day, although it should still be given even after a delay,” Weiss says.
“Rabies is essentially fatal once the disease reaches the central nervous system,” says Dr. Bazzoli. “That being said, the process of tissue exposure to infection, and that infection spreading to the central nervous system, takes days — our best data indicate a week or more. This is why we think of rabies exposure as a medical urgency, and typically not an emergency.”
Are Rabies Shots Painful?
You may have heard that rabies vaccination involves a painful shot in the stomach, but those are a thing of the past. “That hasn’t been the case for more than 20 years, and it’s a dangerous myth,” Crane says. “This is a regular injection in your arm, like a flu shot.”
The rabies vaccine is often a series of shots in the arm, according to Modi. “Depending on if you have been vaccinated in the past, the number of shots can range from two to four,” he says. “Additionally, your healthcare provider may determine you need locally administered rabies immunoglobulin, depending on your medical history, vaccination history, and the details of your exposure.”
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