Have you ever seen a bat? A lot of people are instinctively scared when they see it, afraid of getting sick when they're exposed to wild bats。
I got caught by a bat
The consequences are serious
In recent days, at the red valley medical centre of the jiangxi medical centre for women and children, a rabies prevention clinic in the red valley beach district, xiaoqiang, aged 9, was brought in by his parents and his leg was scratched by bats. Before that, parents had observed that xiao keung's wound was bleeding, and they felt they didn't need a vaccine
A attending doctor in the emergency medicine section of the school told journalists that while riding on a bicycle, he hit a bat whose claws cut his calves when it fell. “humans are scratched by bats and disposed of at the highest level of treatment, rabies are required, and passive immunosuppressants are required.”
Doctors note that bats have a number of viruses, more than 100 of which are currently known, mainly rabies, coronary viruses, filamental viruses, etc. Every june to august is the peak of bat activity, mainly in the evening。
According to earlier reports from xinhua, when a woman returned home and found a bat in the toilet, she was accidentally bitten by her hand when she tried to get the bat out, and the woman arrived at the hospital and was told by doctors that she needed seven shots of serum, five shots of vaccine, at a cost of over 1,700。
The director of the emergency medical unit of the emergency emergency medical department for severely illnessed medical services at mount fuo xinxing hospital told journalists that there were special features to emergency treatment, viral transmission and follow-up protection for bat bites, and that the injured needed timely vaccination within 24 hours。
"for whatever purpose, it is not advisable to catch bats by hand!" he states that citizens must first have protective equipment when facing wildlife or pets, otherwise there is a high risk of injury. “in this case, for example, citizens can use firecrackers and wear thicker clothes to deal with them.”
Bats are dangerous
Once exposed, it's a level iii exposure
“theoretically, all mammals are at risk of contracting or spreading rabies virus, of which three are at higher risk, one is a rabies virus, the second is a wild predator, such as a wolf, a bear, a raccoon, a skunk, and the third is a bat.” the president of the society of medical assistance for animal injuries and deputy director of emergency surgery at the beijing people's hospital told journalists that once they had been bitten by the above-mentioned animals, it was recommended that they should be assessed at a specialized medical institution and that, in principle, post-exposure rabies prevention should be carried out immediately。
In an article published in october 2019 in disease surveillance, “trend analysis of human rabies exposure and death in the united states of america 1938-2018”, the director of the centre for disease control, zhejiang province, zhejiang, m. N. Zhong zaiyu, mentioned that 62 (70 per cent) of the 89 cases of human rabies infected in the united states between 1960 and 2018 were attributed to bat bites. The general public needs to pay attention to the risks of wildlife, particularly bat rabies, and during international travel, and those at higher risk (i. E. Those who may work with animals abroad or remain in close contact with them while travelling) should consider vaccinations before exposure。
“bats are host to many viruses and are considered class iii exposures upon contact with bats, requiring a regulated post-exposure treatment of rabies, i. E. Washing and treating wounds, using rabies passive immunosuppressants reasonably based on the patient's immune history and following procedures for rabies vaccination.” the director of the canine injury clinic at the midwest medical complex in zhejiang province (hangzhou city red cross hospital) indicated that ordinary people who come into contact with bats, whether or not a bite has occurred, should immediately go to a regular medical facility for a routine post-exposure preventive treatment of rabies。
Remember "three steps"
According to the guidelines for the prevention and treatment of rabies exposure (2023 edition), published by china's center for disease control, bat bite injuries are classified as rabies iii exposures, the highest category of exposure and are subject to strict regulation in accordance with the relevant standards. E. J. U. Highlighted that after a bat bite, the processing time for gold is 24 hours and the “three-step approach” is strictly followed:
The first is the immediate washing of disinfection wounds: the washing of wounds with soap or weak alkaline detergents, the alternate washing of wounds with liquid water (or running water) for at least 15 minutes, the physical removal of more than 90 per cent of the virus and the disinfection with iodine volts or medical alcohol. This would minimize viral and bacterial residues on the surface of the wound, reduce the load of the virus at first instance and win a window of time for subsequent vaccinations/immunoglobins。
The second is to visit the regular hospital as soon as possible: regardless of the size of the wound, it is necessary to visit the hospital canine injury clinic or emergency clinic within 24 hours (no later than 48 hours)。
The third is to proactively inform the doctor about the history of exposure to bats: to specify the circumstances of exposure to bat bites or scratches, including the time, location and state of exposure (e. G., abnormally active, dead), to help the doctor determine with precision the risk of possible infection (e. G. Rabies virus, hantan virus, etc.), and to avoid omissions or misalign treatment。
According to staff of a wildlife conservation centre in guangdong, the core principles for ordinary citizens when confronted with bats are “no contact, no eviction, no timely recourse”。
The staff member explained that if a bat enters the room, does not actively capture, beat or drive without hand, it should close the door and window and leave an outlet (e. G. Open the window) for the bat to fly; if the bat is unable to leave on its own, contact the local cdc or wildlife rescue agency in a timely manner and be handled by professionals. If death or behaviour (e. G. Inoperable, convulsions) of bats is detected, do not touch, and when packaged with tools (e. G. Clamps, plastic bags), contact the cdc to avoid direct contact with their body fluids。
The citizens routinely perform household protection, such as installing veils, repairing doors and windows so as to prevent bats from entering the house, cleaning the balcony and the building, avoiding piles of miscellaneous items and reducing the likelihood of bat nesting。
Faced with the risk of wildlife exposure, the public needs to bear in mind “scientific treatment, professional recourse” to protect both wildlife and its own health from unnecessary harm caused by cognitive error。
