Listed As Probable: Batman needs rabies vaccination

November 04, 2009

Batman needs rabies vaccination

San Antonio Spur Manu Ginobli caused quite a stir recently when he swatted a bat out of mid-air during a recent game - on Halloween no less:

I love how the athletic trainer is on the spot with some hand-sanitizer at the end of the clip. That move looks even better now that Ginobli has announced that he had to be vaccinated for rabies.

My initial thought was that the shots seemed like a bit of typical professional sports medical overkill until I read the CDC's page on bats and rabies. The rabies virus is transmitted from infected animals to humans either by bite or more rarely if infected material such as saliva gets into your eyes, nose, mouth, or an open wound. Surely Ginobli would have known whether or not the bat bit him wouldn't he? Not necessarily as apparently bat teeth are so tiny that a bite victim may not even know that his or her skin has been punctured.

Consider this chilling case report:

In February 1995, the aunt of a 4-year-old girl was awakened by the sounds of a bat in the room where the child was sleeping. The child did not wake up until the bat was captured, killed, and discarded. The girl reported no bite, and no evidence of a bite wound was found when she was examined. One month later the child became sick and died of rabies. The dead bat was recovered from the yard and tested--it had rabies.

As the stunned and captured bat was released outside of the arena - which still didn't keep the PETA folks off of Ginobli's back - the bat in question could not be tested, so he prudently opted to get vaccinated.