St. Mary's Regional Medical Center

Bat Encounters Prompt Urgent Rabies Post-Exposure Guidance as Cases Highlight Fatal Risk

- A Virginia physician woke to find a bat attempting to enter her mouth, prompting immediate emergency evaluation and rabies testing that ultimately returned negative. - Bats are the leading source of human rabies in the U.S., causing at least 7 out of 10 rabies fatalities, with two-thirds of annual rabies shots linked to bat exposure. - Experts advise that any direct physical contact with a bat, especially waking in a room with one, should be treated as a high-risk exposure requiring prompt medical assessment. - Post-exposure prophylaxis should begin as soon as possible after exposure, though rabies is considered a medical urgency rather than an emergency because infection spread takes days.