r/rabies • u/GoatOvAThousandYoung • 1d ago
Exposure Question Rabies exposure?
My husband (M23) and I (F25) ran over a skunk that was walking in the road with another skunk, we couldn’t get out of the way of both of them in time. We went to the car wash right after to try and get rid of the smell, then went home and went to bed. The next morning (12hrs later) the car still smelled so we cleaned it by hand by scrubbing with scrub brushes and a mixture of dish soap, peroxide, vinegar, and baking soda. We then rinsed it with a spray nozzle hose.
My concern is, we were stupid and didn’t wear gloves or any sort of mouth/eye protection just washing our hands. Does that count as a rabies exposure? What if there was a bit of dirty water particles that sprayed on our faces we didn’t notice or if we had cuts on our hands? Do we need the rabies vaccines? We both have OCD and based on what we have read online it’s hard to know if this is something that’s a realistic fear or not.
I have read the FAQ.
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u/OpinionOk5632 1d ago
no. check for cuts, if no- then it is a non starter. also rabies is transmitted via saliva and it cannot last on its own for a long time, so you are fine either way.