Posted on 10/03/2024 1:07:19 PM PDT by jerod
A child from the Brantford, Ont., area has died from rabies, says a local medical officer of health.
Dr. Malcolm Lock of the Haldimand-Norfolk Health Unit told councillors at a board of health meeting Wednesday that the child had been exposed to the virus in the Timiskaming region, just north of Sudbury.
"They woke up with a bat in their room," Lock said. "The parents looked, didn't see any signs of a bite or scratches or saliva, and didn't seek getting a rabies vaccine."
Last month, the child was in hospital. No other details, including the child's age, have been released.
It is the first domestically acquired case of human rabies in Ontario since 1967 and the first ever of a Brantford-Brant resident.
This case demonstrates that rabies, which can cause severe damage to the brain and spinal cord, is still circulating, Lock said.
This year, 16 per cent of bats in the Haldimand-Norfolk area have tested positive for rabies, compared to fewer than 10 per cent in previous years, said Lock.
"It's extremely important anyone who has a form of exposure [to bats] seeks medical attention," he said.
Treatment should be sought right away after contact with bats, even if there are no signs of a bite or rabies symptoms, said Lock.
Treatments include a dose of rabies immune globulin and a series of rabies vaccines, which must be administrated as soon as possible after exposure, Lock said. The treatments are nearly 100 per cent effective.
Since reporting began in 1924, there have been 26 cases of rabies in Canada, some of which occurred after exposure to a rabid animal outside the country, according to the federal government. All 26 cases were fatal.
While other wild animals such as raccoons, skunks, foxes and dogs can become infected, rabid bats have caused almost all human cases of rabies in Canada.
Yikes. Just 10 minutes down the road from me.
I don’t think it’s as bad as tetanus, with the muscle spams that can break bones.
Prayers for these people, having to live with this kind of regret.
You get muscle spasms, seizures, throat pain so severe people are panicked by water because swallowing is so painful. It’s an awful way to die. Only 1 known case of a survivor who became symptomatic.
The Great Gretzky’s hometown, IIRC.
Now I am glad I got rabies shots last year and 25 years ago.
I know hundreds of thousands of Americans, maybe a million plus, must have a bat in the room with them each year. A small minority gets shots, maybe one gets rabies.
I did read that 1 in 100 bats has rabies, but 1 in 10 bats captured in a house and sent for testing has rabies.
If you want to get a bat tested, it is very difficult. Coordinating the local board of health, animal control, and the state testing lab.
Tip: see if you can get an infectious disease doctor to give precautionary rabies shots or shots after initial ER visit. You may save a bucket of money, but no one seems to tell.you this.
If you wake up in a room and find a bat in it, you should assume an undetected bite and take the vaccine (four or five doses total spaced out over several days) and on the first day only, the globulin shot, which is antibodies directed at the virus.
Most people would have done what these parents did, which is understandable, but resulted in a preventable death.
Also where Alexander Graham Bell did a lot of research and development for inventing the telephone.
That it is! Brantford, Ontario. Home of Wayne Gretzky. TBH, not that nice a town, except the hospital. Very well run, clean, friendly, efficient and kind. Nothing like the big city hospitals.
Yes - Alexander Graham Bell as well. Home of Bell Telephone.
Well dead IS dead...
No there is a 10% death rate in known tetanus cases. My baby sitter had tetanus when she was about 5 years old.
I found out a close relative had contact with a bat because she posted it on social media. I insisted she go to the ER and get a rabies shot.
Turns out the baby bat made little scratches which also had to be treated with a separate injection to prevent possible permanent nerve damage.
NEVER take chances with rabies. The survival rate after symptoms develop is almost zero. I think there is only one known survivor.
The only exception in cases like this is if you can have the animal tested. For bats, they must be destroyed because it requires disecting the brain. I’m not sure about other animals.
Fortunately there is effective treatment available. Living in Ohio we were always alert that bats carry rabies, were taught not to mess with them.
I hypothesize that bats infected with rabies are more likely to enter people’s homes and bedrooms. Perhaps those bats are seeking shelter and comfort in their time of need.
Horriffic. I hope they put the child in an induced coma instead of letting it flop around in agony.
Rabies is 100 % fatal. Not the same disease as tetanus.
On my first honeymoon in 1970 — a cabin in Maine — there was a bat in the bedroom. Hubby hid under the covers while I trapped the bat with a trash can. (He is my EX husband now.)
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