Florida Boy Who Was Battling Rabies After Bat Scratch Dies

NBC Miami ^ | Jan 15, 2018

[eccentric]

The media still describes the treatment as “Painful shots.” It is only 3 shots in the bottom (hip). no big deal!

[familyop]

"I have no idea why the dad did not seek immediate medical care. I do know that he must have gone on some holistic or naturapath(sp) site if he came across advice to just wash with soap and water for 5 minutes following exposure to a possibly rabid bat. I am appalled."

It's surprising that he didn't find the usual Malthusian advice to buy colloidal silver, essential oils and the like for his kid. The conspiracy theory and wonder medicine freaks are really something else. They advise against vaccines with horror stories, and yes, conspiracy theories.

[Jim Noble]

The little boy was upset at the idea of getting shots, so the parents decided it wasn't necessary

Here's a pro tip:

Bat, monkey, dog, fox, skunk, raccoon, coyote scratch/bite: Get the shots. Right away. Less than 24 hours.

No charge.

[ifinnegan]

“Rabies is not treatable It is however preventable”

Not sure what you mean.

[eccentric]

I wonder if the father was accurate about the dates. Maybe he didn’t want to admit how long he waited.

[AmericanMermaid]

That is utterly ridiculous. A child died because the parents can’t say, “You WILL get these shots and that’s final.” This is just tragic and stupid.

[Gay State Conservative]

There's a video on youtube of a kid in the Philipines in the last stages of rabies.I suppose it could be fake but if it was real (and it did look real) it's a *very* ugly way to go.

[familyop]

"The internet is full of false information."

Comments from crazies in the flu season and vaccine threads are a good example of that.

[Tax-chick]

It’s only for a few moments.

[JudyinCanada]

Very, very sad. I am guessing that the father thought everything was ok after he washed the boys hands, as instructed on google. He probably thought, after a few days came and went, that the boy was fine. I can only imagine how horrible he felt when the symptoms kicked in. He will surely never get over this.

[Wm F Buckley Republican]

Our daughter had them many years ago after a squirrel bit her on her hand while walking home from school. She was carrying an Apple. Doc and Dept of health insisted on shots as they said it was not characteristic behavior for a squirrel.

[null and void]

I wonder why this kid was not administered the RPEP

He didn't want shots so his buddy-dad (not a parent-dad) didn't seek them, figuring soap and water would suffice...

[editor-surveyor]

.
Nonsense!

Rabies shots do nothing but make you sick if you don’t have the infection. With the infection, they accelerate your death.
.

[JayElBee]

Negligent parenting there. I hate bats with a passion. I know they kill mosquitoes, but I see they them as disease carrying flying mice.

[Darnright]

Or Mom and Dad could have said, “Honey, we know it’s scary. We will stay with you the whole time and you must do this, or you could die. We love you too much to risk losing you.”

[Wm F Buckley Republican]

Our daughter had them in the stomach and it want as bad as we anticipated from hearing reports about “painful rabies shots.”

[Pontiac]

How about not putting a sick bat in a bucket! Control your AO! Being stupid can really hurt.

A jar would be better, but either way call your animal control officer afterward.

And certainly, do not leave the animal where your child can reach it.

What I find surprising is that the father did not do more than look up what to do about it on-line. And I find it hard to believe that what he found on-line did not say ‘seek immediate medical attention.

However, I do find that the current generation of parents exceedingly ignorant and arrogant. Rarely seeking advice from their parents when it comes to raising children. Today apparently giving birth supplies a mother with all the knowledge necessary to raise a child properly.

Just my personal experience mind you.

[null and void]

Rabies is not treatable It is however preventable

It is quite preventable, and occasionally it can be survived with treatment.

[keat]

Interesting.

Bat Bomb

[hanamizu]

I was “deselected” the day before we were scheduled to leave for lovely Kabul. Lucky break. I avoided the gamma globulin shots in the hip that everyone else got as well as the amoebic dysentery that everyone who went contracted. Of the whole “class” of about 60, 58 returned after a month in country. There’s a two-syllable word that’s been in the news lately that describes Afghanistan. Just wish I could think of it.