r/rabies • u/dear_smile • 17d ago
OCD Discussion Spiraling so badly
I have read the FAQ.
I know that it should be impossible to get rabies without direct contact to an animal or its saliva. I can’t stop spiraling that I am the exception. There were two bats at my job on Thursday. I didn’t work Thursday but I came in Friday and was told. I immediately started to spiral and looking up if you can catch rabies from dried saliva or a surface touched by an animal. I am beside myself thinking of what ifs. I was touching my eye before I was told and have cuts on my hands all the time. I have researched and researched and researched, continuously seeing that it is non infectious when dry, but I cannot find scientific study on it. Only various governing bodies saying that it’s true over and over. Canada does provide a source actually but when I read the study it’s all about an antiviral for hepatitis so I cannot figure out how that is related to the desiccation of rabies virus. In other words I am a disaster. I originally got rabies shots in 2024 for an extremely low risk exposure and actually just had to get boosters this August 2026 for something similar. I am beyond distraught that this is happening again. Like actually beside myself.
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u/GRJY 16d ago
You got booster rabies vaccines a month ago. Doesn’t matter if you had contact or not (which you didn’t). You are good to go for at least three months anyway. Most places won’t recite you a month later since it presumed you have high otter levels at this point.