Photo : Russell Charters

Bats are adorable and important members of our ecosystem, but they also caused 17 of the 19 rabies deaths in the US between 1997 and 2006. You can be bitten without knowing it, which is why health departments often recommend a rabies shot if you wake up with a bat in your room.




The same is true for anyone who spends time with a bat and might not be aware of being bitten, or might not be able to communicate that they were. This includes intoxicated people, children, and people who are mentally impaired. Bats’ teeth can be small enough that you don’t notice the bite.

Why is this such a big deal?

Once somebody starts showing symptoms of rabies, they’re a goner. The disease is 100 percent fatal. (There are a very few cases of people who survived rabies, including one girl who was put into a coma and given antiviral treatment, but doctors still aren’t sure why that worked and they don’t recommend it for others.)


So if there’s even a chance that you (or your child) has been bitten, it’s probably worth getting the recommended treatment as soon as possible. Ask your local or state health department for more information; they keep tabs on rabies infections in wildlife. And yes, you’re at risk even in the city: this 2015 map shows plenty of reported rabies cases in bats in New York and other major cities.

How do rabies shots work?

Rabies isn’t a routine childhood vaccine. Chances are you’ve never had it, unless you’re a dog (you are probably not a dog). Some humans who get the vaccine preventatively include veterinarians, cavers, and people in the military or who travel to places where rabies is especially common.

But rabies travels slowly from the bite to the part of the body it damages, your central nervous system. If you get a vaccine promptly, your immune system can learn how to fight off the virus just in time—think of it like cramming for an exam.

The typical treatment for rabies, according to the CDC, is a shot of immune globulin—basically, antibodies that already know how to recognize the virus—along with a shot of rabies vaccine. Then you’ll come back for three more shots, on the third, seventh, and fourteenth days after getting bitten.


Each shot is just a simple jab in the arm, just like you’d get for a tetanus or flu shot. (When I was a kid, there was a rumor that you needed twenty shots in the stomach; that’s not the way it works anymore.)

Unfortunately, rabies treatment is expensive, and insurance doesn’t always cover as much as you’d hope. Still, it’s better to have medical bills than to be dead, so this isn’t a good place to save money. Check with your insurance company to find the best place to get your shots in-network, and also see if your health department is able to pick up the cost. (Some do, but many don’t.)


Catch the bat if you can

If you can catch the bat without endangering yourself, do so. The bat can be tested for rabies, and if it didn’t have rabies, you don’t need to get the shots.


The CDC has more information on bats and rabies here. Bottom line, ask your doctor for advice, and if they say you need rabies shots, get them.