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May 6, 2002

U.S. IMMUNIZATION NEWS

"Some Rabies Cases Caused by Unnoticed Bat Bites"

Reuters Health Information Services (www.reutershealth.com)

(05/03/02)

Robert V. Gibbons of the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research examined 24 cases of human rabies related to bats between 1990 and 2000 in the United States and determined that, in most cases, the individual was likely bitten or scratched by a bat, but may not have been aware of it.  Gibbons noted that there is a lot of confusion about bat-related rabies cases in the United States; studies have shown, he said, that the transmission of rabies from bats to other animals and then on to humans, as some have suggested, is not likely.  However, in the Annals of Emergency Medicine, Gibbons points out that the smallest bats, the silver-haired and eastern pipistrelle bats, weigh less than an ounce and have such small teeth that a bite mark could be unnoticeable.  Each year, approximately 40,000 people receive treatment for possible rabies exposure.

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