Canada

I can blame the parent for bad parenting and call myself informed and everyone else should be ... because I know about bats carrying rabies

But I also know that most people have no clue that any of this can happen .... it's the first case of someone dying from rabies in Ontario from an infection that originated in Ontario since 1967 .... people have no clue that this is even possible in this day in age

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/hamilton/rabies-death-1.7341335

About eight or ten years ago I woke up one night in my cottage to a bat flying around my place. It was dark inside and I saw this thing fluttering around in my room. I opened a window and let it out and never thought anything of it. About a year later, I happened to be reading some stuff about rabies .... the hair in the back of my neck went up and it's freaked me out since.

After that bat in my room, I never went for treatment, I never got checked out and I never thought anything of it. It's been about ten years and I keep worrying that some day I'll start feeling the effects of it. I think most people in Ontario would do the same because everyone thinks we got rid of rabies decades ago or that it is a third world disease that isn't possible here.

I feel terrible for that parent .... death from rabies is a horrible way to die and it happened to this child with their parents watching it all happen.

I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy ... let alone someone I would accuse of bad parenting.

Horrible. Understandable that a parent may not know the risk involved.

Only reason I know was when I worked at a summer camp they hammered into us that if a bat was found in a cabin we had to catch it for testing, or else everyone staying in that cabin would get rabies shots.

I try not to judge, but I’m also utterly confused as to why the parents wouldn’t immediately have brought the child in for the shot after finding the bat, visible bite or not…

Little known fact groundhogs are also rabies vectors

Only a handful of people (20ish) have ever survived without getting an antiviral shot before symptoms presented.

And it’s a pretty horrific way to die (absolutely dehydrated and needing fluid but gagging and choking if offered a drink).

If I ever got it I’d want to be put in a coma while my immune system tried to knock it out and euthanized if I didn’t recover reasonably.

When I was young the fear was put into us by my parents. The Cugo movie really reinforced it.

A lot of people have a lot of strong opinions around here so, as someone who's been in a bat in room situation with ambiguous contact potential let me point you to Quebec's Health Ministry's Post Exposition Prophylaxis guidelines:

Vacciner les personnes ayant eu une exposition significative à une source potentiellement rabique.

Une exposition significative est une morsure, une griffure ou un contact de la salive ou du LCR d’un mammifère potentiellement rabique avec une plaie fraîche (ayant saigné ou suinté depuis moins de 24 heures) ou avec une muqueuse.

L’exposition significative se définit comme suit :

Chauve‑souris : présence des 2 conditions suivantes :

Contact physique reconnu avec la chauve‑souris; Morsure, griffure ou contact de la salive de la chauve‑souris avec une plaie fraîche (ayant saigné ou suinté depuis moins de 24 heures) ou avec une muqueuse non exclu. La PPE n’est pas indiquée en l’absence de contact physique reconnu (ex. : chauve‑souris trouvée dans la maison sans qu’on ait eu connaissance d’un contact physique avec l’animal). Si la description des faits ne peut être obtenue auprès d’une personne fiable (ex. : jeune enfant ou personne intoxiquée), il faut chercher à savoir si des éléments de l’histoire laissent croire à un tel contact, comme des cris ou des pleurs soudains ou inhabituels ou bien une lésion cutanée compatible avec une morsure de chauve‑souris (plaie punctiforme comparable à la piqûre d’une aiguille hypodermique, d’un diamètre inférieur ou égal à 1 mm, peu ou pas douloureuse).

https://www.msss.gouv.qc.ca/professionnels/vaccination/piq-vaccins/rage-vaccin-contre-la-rage/

Translation of the bold section: PPE is not indicated in the absence of known physical contact (ex: a bat found in the house without knowledge of physical contact).

See also this triage chart:

https://www.msss.gouv.qc.ca/aide-decision-app/accueil.php?situation=Rage