Anybody ever had to have shots for rabies??

[pozinbama]

Howdy All,

I've not been around these parts for sometime but need some info if anybody has any on the subject. My partner and I just recently moved into a new place (in Ohio) that turned out to have bats in the attic. And of course we had an encounter with one. We were able to kill and capture it. I took it to the county health dept for testing where it did indeed have rabies. We were not bitten that we know of, but with bats you can apparently get bitten and not know it. And since rabies=death they aren't taking any chances and are sending us in the morning to start the series of rabies shots....I have not yet told them that we both have hiv.

And...neither of us has been to the doc or been on meds in over sixth months. For reasons that I won't go into, I will assume our immune systems are not in tip-top shape....but it seems as we have no choice in getting the shots. I'm just not sure what to expect and am not finding any info on HIV'ers and rabies vaccines online yet. Has anyone had to go through these? Any complications to expect?

Thanks for any help if you can.
Steven

[Matty the Damned]

I dug something up about this last year, but I can't be bothered searching for the link.

Essentially, yes you can have rabies vaccine, but you might require extra doses for it to be effective.

MtD

[Oceanbeach]

Rabies shots were a childhood fear of mine.  I have never known anyone who has had it done but I was told as a child it was very painful, lasted for days and was a fate worse than death.

I have always had dogs, they were regularly vacinated, no problem
I live in a house which had bats in the attic, which sometimes got out and flew through the house a few times, no problem but I would never kill one.  Have the best day
Michael

[mjmel]

It is a non-live viral vaccine so you two should be fine.

This is a good measure to abide by as recently there were a couple of children (in Ohio) who contracted rabies virus and they could not tie it in with an actual bitten episode. So....right.....they were bitten unnoticed.

Mike

[bear60]

I was given the rabies shots as a precaution before going to Peru with the Peace Corps.  I dont remember it being very difficult. No side effects.
But if I were you I would lay it all on the table for the doctors there at the Health Dept.  Get a letter from your doctor or something.

modified to add:  This was before being HIV positive.

[dixieman]

Well if your in question? Contact the nearest CDC center and or have your attending physician check to see if the shots could possibly cause complications. The shots are not given in the stomach anymore.. it use tobe a series of 50... now their given in a series of 9 to several per day effectively for 5 days. Have you checked online to see about rabies shots? rabies shots after contact with a rabid animal? try to google it up to see but, I will tell you its not as unpleasant as in the past... but, its not an experience one wishes for either. Just inform your doctor.. they will check but, in reality you have little to no alternative in place. A vaccine as precaution is totally different from a series to prevent the spread of the virus to the brain. Since you already know the bat as being infected... why have you not immediately gone through the treatment? Its not if its a given... seek medical attention ASAP!

[angelofdreams]

hmmm,

just reading this post makes me laugh a bit,
i can imagine the number of jokes some people must get in there head

[penguin]

sorry to hear about the bat incident

 i had to have rabies vaccine about 5 or 6 years ago, after becoming, er...entangled with a raccoon while mountan biking in canada. bit of a hassle, as it's multiple shots - 5 doses over the course of about a month, plus rabies immune globulin shot.
think i felt a bit flu-y, sore arm. otherwise uneventful. my cd4 was prob around 200 at that point? clearly itworked cos i's not rabid

in a separate incident, my brother also had the jabs, after being bitten by a golden retriever in a quarantine kennels near heathrow airport 

kate

[Oceanbeach]

I did chase a bat through the house with a tennis racket once.  My tennis instructor said not to do that again because it could ruin the work we had done on my backhand    Have the best day
Michael