Question about Bat encounter
 

Went up the hill to see the beautiful moon tonight and had a bat land on my arm, made a squeak and flew away! Felt like a poke in the arm but no sign of penetration to the skin, just some redness.. what medical symptoms should I watch for? I am not planning to go to the hospital with all this Covid going around! slightly concerned

If you are sure the skin was not broken, I would not worry.
They have claws to grip with, so that is why you probably have a red mark where it landed.
If the mark you had left gets any worse, you should get medical attention.
Regarding Covid, ER's are a lot safer than supermarkets, shops etc!

Be observant of additional symptoms, could be harmless but good to be aware. I tend to agree, hospitals or free standing ER's at least do a covid question and temperature check, more than the stores we go into.

Watching for symptoms of rabies is not a viable option. Once symptoms appear you will need to be arranging your memorial service. There is no treatment for rabies. There is prevention which must be started within days of your bat exposure.

First thing, if you just like playing the odds there are fewer than five deaths per year in the US from rabies so the likelihood that you are heading toward Old Yeller territory is slim, very slim, but not zero.

As you know you had a bat exposure and you wrote that you experienced a poke feeling then the animal potentially broke your skin. The bite mark left by a bat can be so small as to not be visible. Here is the CDC recommendation on assessing your risk

It is absolutely not normal behavior for a bat to land on a human.

To summarize
1. You know a bat behaving abnormally landed on you
2. You felt a poke to your skin
3. Rabies is essentially 100% fatal
4. Rabies is essentially 100% preventable with rabies shots in your arm
5. The odds are the bat was not rabid. Are you feeling lucky?

Contact your local county health department for guidance. Sumter County's phone is

352-569-3102

Obviously Covid calls may make it more difficult to get through but the local health dept. is your best resource. You do not need to go to an ER for rabies evaluation.

Absolutely, positively 100% correct. Don't mess with this when a shot of RIG (Rabies Immune Globulin) will protect you. PS: I'd be less concerned with 0.3% fatal COVID than 100% fatal rabies under the circumstances. There is no way a "normal" bat lands on a human being.

Thank you Blue, I've been up all night worrying... headed to Dr today. They squeezed me in !

let us know how you make out-what an interesting topic. do not fear the rabies vax, is painless with no side effects.

Call your doctor!!

Glad you were able to get into your doctor. Hope everything goes well.

Yep, with all sick people congregated in one area.

Do you have a desire to suck someone’s blood?

Or sleep while hanging upside down?

Your hospital must operate on a different level to ours then.
Been in hospital twice since Covid started, and never felt safer, or better protected from the virus.

:1rotfl: :1rotfl: :1rotfl: :1rotfl:

With all that laughter done, glad OP got good advice and got a doctor's appointment.

If you start wearing grey tights and call your wife robin and your son Alfred I would start to worry...