Posted on 05/10/2006 6:41:54 PM PDT by wjersey
A Texas teenager bitten by a bat while he slept in his Houston area home was in critical condition with rabies in a local hospital on Wednesday, health officials said.
The high school sophomore awoke from a nap four weeks ago to find a bat had apparently flown in an open window in his home, said Harris County Health Department doctor Herminia Palacio.
"What we have is a history of the child waking up from a nap in his room and seeing a bat in the room and having felt the bat brush against him," she said.
The boy did not know he had been bitten, which Harris County veterinarian Dawn Blackmar said was not unusual because bats have "very, very tiny" teeth.
The bat was captured and thrown out the window, news reports said.
The boy began feeling ill last week, was taken to the hospital and diagnosed with rabies. He was being treated, but Palacio said the chance of survival was poor. Ten people in the United States have died of rabies since 1998, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or CDC.
"Once a person becomes ill, there's really no effective treatment. Clinical illness with rabies is almost universally fatal," Palacio said.
Symptoms can range from flu-like fever and headaches to anxiety, delirium and hallucinations, the CDC said.
Bats, which wildlife experts say are beneficial animals because they consume large quantities of insects, are prevalent at this time of year in Texas because they are migrating north after spending the winter in Mexico, Palacio said.
Ping your Houston FReepers.
Prayers for this young man. Let us pray for a miracle.
I covered a story of a little girl in Centralia Washington who was bitten by a bat while sleeping in her room about 10 or 12 years ago. She contracted rabies and could not be saved. It was very sad, but there is not cure. I was told then that a high percentage of bats carry rabies.
Why not the Wisconsin protocol for treatment of the rabies infection? It was used two years ago and the young girl survived with very little brain damage.
What a sad story. To the best of my knowledge only two people have survived rabies once symptoms begin to appear. One is in Atlanta about forty years ago and I believe the other was somewhere on the West Coast in the last several years. I don't believe they ever determined what happened that allowed them to live--albeit with considerable damage.
I guess you've heard about the three cases of rabid bats here in the Austin area by now. We have bats at our shop, and I tell my people to stay away from them if they see one on the ground.
There was a case recently where someone did survive rabies. It may have been the first time someone has.
Human immune system has a potential to battle rabies
A unique medical case mesmerized doctors worldwide. According to Healthtalk.com, a 15-year-old female from Wisconsin survived rabies without receiving the rabies vaccine.
http://newsfromrussia.com/science/2004/11/25/57275.html
Jeanna’s treatment used on two others:
Only five people besides Jeanna are known to have survived rabies after the onset of symptoms, but they received the standard treatment of a series of vaccine shots or had previously been vaccinated. About 55,000 people die each year from rabies, mostly in Asia and Africa, and only a few in the United States.
http://www.wisinfo.com/thereporter/news/archive/local_21451786.shtml
Actually, many people survive rabies but the cure is difficult. Many years ago my brother was bitten by an ocelot. He was treated for rabies with one serum, then another.
He survived but there was no indication that he ever had rabies. This is true of most rabies patients.
Yeah, blame the bat.
There was a girl who recently survived rabies .....to do so they had to put her in a coma to try and protect her brain (extreme yes, but the only choice they had). She survived, but she came out with some physical problems. Last I heard they were teaching her to walk all over again.
Bats, which wildlife experts say are beneficial animals because they consume large quantities of insects, are prevalent at this time of year in Texas because they are migrating north after spending the winter in Mexico,
More immigrants eh.
Just biting the children american bats won't bite.
That would have been the vaccine. If it is given before symptoms appear, then there is little chance of developing rabies. Once symptoms appears, the vaccine is useless and the chances or survival are almost zero.
I saw a bat in a high school basketball game once swoop wildly around the crowd. A policeman killed the bat and picked him up with his bare hands.
Take that crap elsewhere.
Prayers for this kid and his family.
What a strange thing to happen.
The rabies vaccine only works if it is administered before symptoms appear. There are very few people who have survived rabies after symptoms have appeared.
prayer bump
Ugh, not a good idea. Last November, we found a sick bat on the ground near my office. A few hours later it was dead. We sent it off to be tested for rabies and it was positive. Thankfully, because of what we teach, we knew to treat it as a biohazard and followed the proper handling precautions.
I'm with you, Chena. This is so tragic.
The real bummer is that bats can carry rabies without dying from it. That gives them a huge ability to spread the disease.
Now there was a girl who survied rabies last year, wasn't there? I wonder how she survived...
Thank you. Both of you have educated me.
But you have to get treated before the symptoms appear, yes?
H=15
Prayers for the teen may he be blessed with a miracle.
I pray this young man will be the second person to survive a rabid bat bite. From the article you linked to: "The 15-year-old Fond du Lac girl is said to be the first person in medical history to have survived the disease without having received a vaccination after becoming infected through a bat bite."
Check 16 and 20. I didn't know this part.
Sadly, yes.
There is still a thin sliver of hope. I know of 2, count 'em, 2, people who have survived full blown rabies in all of recorded history.
But would there have been charges if they had killed the bat.
Given the way PETA works these days, I wouldn't doubt it, but I would say it is better to be safe than sorry.
Prayers for the boy and his family.
Your comment was terribly inappropriate. Perhaps you weren't thinking of this young man and his family when you posted it.
Perhaps not.
One more reason not to sleep with the window open.
I'll pray for this boy.
When my son was at camp a few years ago in North Carolina, a bat was found in the cabin at night. The counselor got it out and all the boys in the cabin had rabies shots. Thank goodness for the excellent staff at the camp.
If a bat is found in a room with a sleeping person, or a child too small to give a reliable account, that person should definitely be vaccinated for rabies.
Bats in the house are far more likely to have rabies than bats outside - something like 20% of them. Bats with rabies are driven to bite. And bat bites are basically undetectable.
All five of us had to be vaccinated one summer when a bat got in the house. My husband opened the door and it flew out but since we had been sleeping his doctor said all of us had to get the shots.
Prayers for this young man. I hope the doctors learned a lot from treating the girl in Wisconsin.
Mrs VS
I don't get back to FR lately, too many name callers and insulters. You all have impressed me. You both handled a disagreement with class. Freeregards. V's wife.
It's not too late to say a prayer or at the very least, hope this young man survives. :)
Praying for this young man and his family!
I feel your pain. Thank you, V's wife. :)
Are you talking about the direct injection of rabies vaccine into or onto the brain? I read - probably the Readers Digest version - the story of one such rabies victim who eventually recovered.
The incidents of rabies in bats is no higher than in any other group of wild warm blooded animals.
Bats are sceeerry.
They are also apparently doing the same coma and antivrial treatment given to the girl from wisconsin.
You mean like this "people?"
This isn't a thread about Illegal Immigration. Either stay on topic or stay off this thread. Thanks.
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