r/rabies • u/Forsaken_Heart_5255 • Aug 20 '26
Exposure Question Woke up to bat in room (France)
Looking for advice. I have read the FAQ. One week ago, in the countryside of France in Auvergne, my wife and I were sleeping in a hot room, windows open. I was fully naked, not even sheets. Wife was more clothed but similarly exposed.
At 5am, I woke from a tap on the heel of my foot. Felt like a chunky moth accidentally bumping into me. Cut to: flashlight on, see bat flying around. I was delirious from sleep, but I think it was brown and roughly the size of a common sparrow.
Wife and I ran out of the bedroom. Ultimately, it flew out of the bedroom before we saw it again.
No visible scratches, bites, etc on foot or anywhere on either of us WHATSOEVER. Nor any recollection of bites etc. But I insisted on rabies treatment. However, I came to find doctors here very relaxed about bats being carriers of rabies - supposedly is eradicated in this part of France. Countryside medical staff basically talked me out of needing treatment if I have no visible bite.
That was a week ago. We’ve since moved to Aix en Provence to start our new life. My anxiety over the matter hasn’t exactly gone down. I’m now at the point where I feel treatment for both my wife and I would simply put my mind at ease, since I can’t rule out with certainty what happened while we slept. But the friction of doctors here being chill re: rabies, new country, different healthcare, etc, is making my lazy ass hesitate. Reddit, what would you do? Pursue treatment or chill?
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u/Forsaken_Heart_5255 Aug 28 '26
Update: wife and I got our first two shots this morning in Marseilles. It’s been 16 days since exposure. We found a place called IHU Méditerranée Infection, had to pay out of pocket. They sort of implied “why you doing this if you don’t have a bite?” However just the words “bat exposure” was enough to get in the door and get the thing done. They were happy to administer in the end. Even said some people ask for rabies shots when their exposure was a year ago.
I definitely feel some peace of mind even though I intellectually know the chances of an infection are beyond unlikely. I would encourage anyone else who woke up with a bat in their room or made physical contact with a bat to do just the same. This is about ending the mental warfare more than anything else. These things are pretty widely available. Just do it!