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Hundreds of Rhode Islanders have received rabies vaccinations after possibly being exposed to the deadly disease during an “unprecedented bat season” in the state.
Health officials said about 200 people have needed to receive rabies post-exposure prophylaxis, the series of vaccines that prevents viral disease after someone has been exposed.
Rabies is considered 100 percent fatal in humans if it is not treated before symptoms begin.
Bat season in Rhode Island typically lasts a few weeks in August because higher temperatures cause bats to seek cooler spots in homes than the attic, where temperatures rise.
People are also more likely to be exposed to bats and rabies in late August and September because the baby bats have fledged.
This presents a higher risk of infection because the young bats are still learning how to forage and are more likely to come into contact with people as a result.
In infected humans, rabies symptoms appear one to three months after exposure and rapidly progress to hallucinations, delirium, and hydrophobia, or fear of water, closely followed by death.
A bat bite is usually so small that there is no visible wound, but a bite from an infected bat can transmit the rabies virus, which is passed from animal to human through saliva (file image)
Rhode Island health officials stress how important it is that people who see or come into contact with a bat try not to let it escape so officials can test it for rabies. Also, even if someone is not sure if they have been in direct contact with the bat, they should contact the Department of Public Health.
If a person sees a bat in their home, they should “try to capture it safely…and test it for rabies.” Rhode Island Health Officials told the Boston Globe.
“If someone reports a bat in their home and they don’t have one, we must assume the bat was rabid and the person will need to receive the rabies series of vaccinations.”
If a person is unable or comfortable capturing the bat on their own, they should call the Rhode Island Department of Public Health.
A bat bite is usually so small that it leaves no visible wound, but a bite from an infected bat can transmit the rabies virus, which is passed from animal to human through saliva.
And the lack of a bite mark makes a bite all the more concerning, since someone could be bitten by a rabid bat and not know it.
The fangs of bats are so small that someone could be bitten and not know it or the bite marks heal within an hour or two, health officials added.
Most bats are healthy and usually do not pose a threat to humans. Animals play a key role in maintaining healthy ecosystems and fewer than one in 200 randomly sampled bats test positive for the rabies virus.
Of those tested each year in Rhode Island, an average of four to five percent test positive for rabies.
However, animals are the leading cause of human rabies death in the US, and some of those infected may not show signs or symptoms of the disease.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimate that there are one to two human cases of rabies per year.
Bats that act strangely or come into contact with humans are more likely to carry the disease.
In infected humans, rabies symptoms appear one to three months after exposure and rapidly progress to hallucinations, delirium, and hydrophobia, or fear of water, closely followed by death.
The disease is more than 99 percent fatal in humans once symptoms appear, but it can be treated through an aggressive medical regimen, such as receiving multiple vaccinations.
However, the regimen should be started on the day of exposure.
People feared to have been exposed to rabies receive rabies post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP), a vaccine, and antibody treatment.
They will receive a dose of artificial rabies antibodies to fight the infection as soon as they are exposed, as well as four doses of a rabies vaccine over two weeks.
The vaccine contains a small spike protein from the surface of the rabies virus in order to prepare the immune system to fight the actual virus should it become infected.
In addition to Rhode Island, at least five other states (Utah, Colorado, Florida, Ohio and South Carolina) have reported rabid bats in the past month, and Florida has placed a county of nearly half a million people under a two-month quarantine. . Disease alert.