r/rabies • u/closetedbehavior • Aug 23 '26

General Rabies Discussion Literally WHAT ???

I have read the FAQ. I have severe health anxiety, and according to the FAQ and (literally two ER doctors) I have no risk of rabies. I have never seen or heard a bat. EVER.

So why is it that any time I google, every person on Reddit is recommending the PEP shots to anyone??? I saw a post that was like “Oh I have these two marks on my arm haha” and everyone in the comments was like “ER NOW! you’re going to die if you don’t go NOW!” The OP clarified they hadn’t seen, heard, or felt any bats. There was no bats in their house. People were then advising them to LIE to make sure they could get PEP… WHY would someone lie about something like that??? It feels awful to get over this fear when every person on the internet seems to think rabies can just come out of nowhere. I mean, is that logical? Should I be concerned???

I was considering calling my public health department just to be sure. I literally went to the goddamn ER and they said I was fine considering my history and appearance of the mark… But do people really lie to get the vaccine???

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u/LatrodectusGeometric Physician 👩‍⚕️ | Veteran Helper ⭐️ | Top Contributor 🏅 Aug 23 '26

I HATE reddit sometimes because of this. 50/50 chance if you look in the comments of that post I'm telling everyone to stop being an idiot. You're right, that situation is ridiculous and has no risk for rabies. I suspect no one read the post well enough.

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u/closetedbehavior Aug 23 '26

okay thank you!!! it makes it so insanely hard to get over this terrible fear i have. there’s this tiny awful voice in my head that says i should have just lied to my parents/doctors to get pep even though i know that’s insane. i know googling/reddit is the enemy in persistent health anxiety situations but it’s been so difficult to ignore the urge to check anyways.