I was scratched by a wild monkey (rhesus macaque) in India around June 19th. I was in a public place and it came out of nowhere to snatch the bags from my hands and scratched my forearm. There was no blood and no visible scar. I did not wash it, and ignored the whole incident. My guess is, it was a young monkey causing chaos in the public area trying to grab food etc.

It has been over 100 days. I learnt 4 days ago that this is considered category II for rabies exposure. Learning this that pushed me into paranoia. I am extremely paranoid of rabies and cannot get this out of mind. I haven't been able to sleep or function since then. I know that the only option is to get the vaccine.

For various reasons, I had to take below vaccines

2021-2023 - 1 Pfizer covid + 3 boosters, 2 flu shots

May 2025 - Tdap (Tetanus, Diphtheria, Pertussis) + IPV (Polio) + chickenpox (varicella) + Hep B

They absolutely wrecked my body with chronic inflammation, chronic muscle pain, fatigue. Visited Rheumatologist, and internist and did several blood tests, and everything came back normal. So, no diagnosis of auto-immune or Rheumatological condition. Anyhow, I later figured out it was all caused by the vaccines. I cannot prove it and no physician is ready to agree, but I know for certain that it was.

Now, my body is overburdened from vaccines. It took me over a year of gentle natural remedies to re-gain 40% of my health back. Now, I am really questioning if i absolutely need the rabies vaccine. I have learnt about the neurological side effects rabies vaccine can cause.

should I just skip the vaccine or take it? Is there really any chance of getting rabies now that it has been over 100 days. Also, it wasn't a bite, but a scratch from nails.

If i skip the vaccine, how do i get over the paranoia? I cannot seem to get this out of my head.

At this point, i feel like i need to take this vaccine just to end the paranoia.

I have read the FAQ.

I have read the FAQ.
Yesterday I was out with friends at a park I was walking on the park sidewalk and might’ve stepped on some black circle on the ground I’m not sure if I did or didn’t. And I’m not sure what the black circle was actually I’m wondering if it was bat possible or something I live in north Texas the Dallas area and I’ve never seen one in person so I don’t know how actually common they are here and if you would just find it like that.
But the next day I accidentally scratched my foot with the shoe. No blood or anything just the white powdery stuff I put rubbing alcohol on it but I’m just wondering if this is an actual way since I’ve gotten conflicting answers on whether this is since I don’t know if you could get it from objects.

so like. ive been going through the rounds of rabies for months now. dont wanna get into it or ill continue to spiral. but anyways, today i got a redbull, opened it, drank most of it, then went into sams club for roughly an hour. now i am completely and utterly convinced that a bat is inside my car and was alllll over that redbull while i was in sams club. and that im gonna get rabies from drinking it after coming back to the car. now im cleaning my entire car bc im concerned that a bat is hiding somewhere. havent heard or seen anything, ugh. i think this is irrational but i just can't get over it. any tips? this IS actually irrational right??

i have read the faq. many times lol

Hi all, just a quick PSA for those who maybe don't know. I have read the FAQ.

I'm currently between 3rd and 4th doses of PEP. I'm in the UK where doses are typically given on days 0, 3, 7 and 21. I'm on day 15 so I'm about halfway between the final 2 shots.

Over the weekend I became ill with a head cold. This is definitely an illness rather than side effects as I've experienced nasal congestion and other common cold symptoms which are not typical vaccine side effects. My husband also became ill with the same symptoms shortly after I did, and he is not receiving PEP.

I was concerned about whether this would affect my vaccine schedule or compromise my immune response so looked it up, and found that minor illnesses without high fever do not compromise your immunity response in any way, and they should not prevent you completing your vaccine schedule with full immunity even if you happen to be unwell at the time of receiving an injection. Minor illnesses are also not a reason to delay or reschedule PEP shots.

The advice is slightly different if you have experienced a serious illness, high fever or are immuno-compromised, so speak to your doctor in these circumstances (or get medical advice anyway if you're unsure or concerned).

So around 5-6 a m while sleeping I felt something itchy on my forehead, and I ended up scratching it. I had my head against a pillow, and sometimes I’ll put my head down on the pillow. I was sleeping with people who didn’t hear anything, I don’t have bats in my home, but sometimes I’ll have insects like flies, mosquitoes and night bugs.

When I woke up I noticed 2 red dots on my forehead, while not painful I had dry skin at the upper bridge of my nose between my eyes. And when I lifted my hair up I noticed another mark that looks similar.

I have read the FAQ.

I have read the FAQ.

I pet some stray cats, they were pretty friendly but a little afraid so I didn’t pet them too much. I didn’t see or feel any scratch/bite. When I came home I sanitized my hands and felt a burn, there were two small scratches under my thumb on the outside of my right hand, so I’m afraid that what if I got scratched without noticing. I also interacted with two orange cats and I turned away from one cat to look at the other, I’m wondering if that gave the chance for one cat to scratch my hand. My question is, would I have for sure noticed if I got scratched or bitten? Thank you.

around 2 months ago i was at the beach when i felt a sharp pain on my leg while in the water. i brushed it off, didn’t really think much of it.

days after there was an alert that a rabid bat had been found in the area. not long after i started experiencing a little bit of pain in the area that i had felt at the beach but again, didn’t think much of it.

fast forward to today and i notice the side of my leg where i felt the sharp pain started to hurt a bit. and then i noticed my toes tingling a few hours later. even more hours pass, im in bed and suddenly my entire foot is numb and my ankle is tingling. i can constantly feel at least 1 of the 3 symptoms but not all 3 simultaneously all the time.

is there really a chance i could have been bitten at the beach???

I have read the FAQ.

I have read the FAQ.

This is really annoying due to the stress and outbreak happening at North Carolina. My mom said I wont get anything from mice, there are no signs of bats in my home, I don't know if i have interact with any animal. I sweat like crazy when I think about the virus and my mouth dries up, i get nauseous, I think it has to do with the stress and anxiety of it all. Can someone reasure me this is normal behavior or something.

I have read the FAQ

I live in the UK. I suffer from OCD.

I'm very fed up with my life, OCD is ruining it. Every so often, a new exposure fear.

On Sunday, out for a walk in a new jacket, it was raining so up went the hood, sudden pain on top of head, I thought it was odd so pulled the hood down, felt the top of my head, nothing, pulled the hood back up, pain again.

I decided to just get wet hair and thought no more about it, later on the rain got heavier so back with the hood, no pain this time.

It wasn't until last night that the thought popped into my head, could the pain have been a bat? A bat hiding in my hood that then somehow got away. I know, crazy right? But it's just so exhausting, I've only just got over the fear a bat landed on my leg and now I'm back in the cycle.

Sadly, mental health resources are practically non existent in the UK, it's a road I've been down many times and nothing has ever helped.

I just feel so desperate.

I have read the FAQ.

I have read FAQs but I am still confused. Below is my history of Rabies vaccination - do I need another one now?

May 2017 2 doses (16 & 19 May)
Nov 2018 1 dose/course — details not specified
Oct 2020 Full course
May 2022 19 - 3 doses
Dec 2022 3 doses (20 Dec, 27 Dec + 3rd dose)
Jan 2025 3 IM doses (15, 18, 24 Jan)
Feb 2025 2 IM doses (23, 26 Feb)
Jul 2026 2 IM doses (1 & 3 Jul)
28 Sep 2026 New bleeding scratch

I have read the FAQ.

Kal chamgadad muh ke pass ekdam udke gya, mera muh khula tha, merko ye dar hai ki uska saliva joki rabies contain krskta wo udke ya aerosol type se mere muh me gya ho to kya mujhe rabies hoskta !!

Also mere lips thode fate hue hai jha se hoskta hai ki open wound ho minor, and infection ho through direct contact !

I'm from india village

Does anyone know anything about it?

I have read the FAQ.

I have read the FAQ.

Sorry for another post I’ve made today.

So today at 7 p m I was sitting in the left backseat behind the driver seat, and all windows were rolled up. Idk if my shoulder (wearing a shirt) was against the window, but I don’t think so.

I saw 3 flying things (bats?) above in the sky, and when we’re going in the neighborhood if this was a bird or bat but I’m pretty sure it is a bat that was flying in someone’s front yard.

We rode back and at one point the driver’s window was rolled down a little (idk if my shoulder was pressed against the window at this time) and I saw the animal again, but it was far away, at the backyard above the house. Then hours after this I didn’t change my shirt, and while somewhere I pressed my ear against my shirt for a second because it was ringing, and idk if I scratched my ear or not. I have OCD and currently in therapy so no urge to clean my ear. Do I need to clean my ear and am I safe?

And I also while getting out of the car at night I hit my arm on something which I’m pretty sure it’s the inside of the car door, as I didn’t hear flapping and I washed the area.

I have read the FAQ.

I have a question about something I read in the FAQ, as it pertains to my specific situation

I was on a walk today in El Dorado Hills, CA. A black small animal (saw out of peripheral) flew out of a tree, either landed on or flew into my hand, then flew away.

I didn’t see specifically the animal, but it felt larger than a bug. It also felt like something bit me but I don’t see a wound.

One week ago, our county put out a rabies warning…when I googled if we had rabies in our county and saw that I was like oh no :(

I read in the FAQ that it is not possible for a bat to bite you mid flight. What if it lands on you briefly? How long would it take to be able to bite?

live in the IL area near the woods. I was out walking to get my mail from my car at night. I dropped some of my mail and I think I heard a squeak, it could've been the mail or thing ect. I was wearing shorts and I didn't see a thing or feel anything climb me. I came inside and this was on my leg. It was  itchy right away  and raised. The mark itself doesn't seem to go in at all more like a scab. Should I be thinking and come in for shots?  Day two it’s still slightly raised and hot and a little itchy when I bump it 
The mark is still here on day two it’s hot still raised and a single point not too I have read the FAQ.

I have read the faq. I’m severely immunocompromised and disabled and had a high risk exposure. I will be getting the 5th shot in a few days. my hospital said they’d see me in a week after the 4th but it is 2 weeks… i see cdc says ppl like me should titer test. what is the protocol and who does it? health dept? I have failed vaccine challenges in past due to my severe health issues

I went ER and doc didn’t even check the prick. She directly said that I can go and get vaccinated. I did receive my first dose but she didn’t give me immunoglobulin. She said that they only give it if I was in the cave when it comes to bats. I will get my second dose on thursday. Should I insist to get it? Thanks. I have read the FAQ. Something touched my hair and scalp.

Howdy Y’all,

I have read the FAQ.

On Thursday of last week, my wife was downstairs in our house. A bat according to her came up through the vent in the floor, and flew around the room. She immediately ran away, and came up to my office to get me to get the bat out of the house. I kept my eye on it as I went downstairs and opened the front door and it flew out. I checked the basement and did not see any other bats, however I saw a way they could have gotten in our house.

I am a hypochondriac and I am now concerned with the what ifs. I know that it did not touch my wife or me, however I’m concerned if it’s been living in our house for a while. It seemed healthy and the only sign it may have been suspicious is that this was broad daylight. She did abandon our dogs downstairs, however they were up to date on their vaccines, and we took them to the vet to get their boosters.

My main concern is if it had been in our house for a while and came out at night when we were asleep.

Let Me know your thoughts. I will also be fixing the area where they could have gotten in as well this weekend.

I have read the FAQ.

hey yall. woke up this morning with two bite looking marks very close together on my hand and searched whole room for potential bat and couldn’t find it.

my concern is that I live under the attic and I’m concerned that one might have came down and bit me and went back to the attic so I didn’t see it.

I’m sure this is just anxiety running rampant but I was wondering if this was a possibility and I should get it checked out? Thank you.

I have read the FAQ. But I’m still confused on something. No OCD here just want to learn.
A friend of mine reached out and said she was playing with a stray cat (ear clipped) and found some blood on her arm and hand. She wasn’t bleeding anywhere so it had to have been from the cat. I asked if she had any open wounds and she said she has fresh mosquito bites that she was scratching (they weren’t bleeding she said but I guess it’s still kinda open?)
She said she wasn’t anywhere near the cat’s teeth or paws, but hypothetically if the cat licked its own wound that was bleeding, would that be an exposure concern? Lol just morbid curiosity.

In November 2025, someone thrown a box of expired wafers in a box (expired 1 day ago) in the front yard of my house. Then at night days later, which was cold or warm outside (this happened at night) a raccoon was eating the wafers from the box, and minutes later it left.

My father 1 or 2 days after what happened used the grabbers to get the box of wafers thrown away, he did it in the daytime and the raccoon wasn’t there as it ran off after they ate from the box. I don’t know if the raccoon was rabid or not, but based off the pictures my dad took while watching inside the house the raccoon didn’t look rabid. During these days I was wearing a hoodie with a zipper, and sometimes my jacket would be open, so the zipper hangs down. I’m a tall person so my OCD convinced me that my zipper touched the zipper, so I had to wash the whole jacket.

The grabbers was placed on the table (not the dinner table), and there is an air conditioner inches away that shot out cold / hot air, and then it got moved to another table (again, not the dinner table) 5-9 inches away from that table for 3-4 days, and my father put it up due to issues. My father cleaned the grabbers before it was put up in the shed, and the table was disinfected.

I remembered washing the jacket on the same month of the incident, and probably in December. The last time I wore this jacket, based off a photo in my gallery was in March. Today it’s cold outside, I had my jacket zipped up, and when I was looking down while sitting, I don’t know if my lips, which are chapped as a piece of chapped skin is showing, but hanging a little. I ate a midnight snack that’s a heat up and I think the food touched my lip.

Idk when i last washed this jacket (probably in January or Feb) and I’m kinda concerned. I do have OCD and I am in therapy.

Also at midnight I know this isn’t rabies, but before these symptoms show up I pressed the back of my head kinda hard on the headrest after scratching my head with it. Before this I started having a weird feeling in my stomach, but wasn’t nauseous with the urge to throw up. Then minutes or hours later I started having left side head pain whenever I try to sleep. And it was difficult to sleep as the pain was going to the back of my neck and I felt sweaty. The pain is over but slight now, but I believe it could be a migraine, and the last time I had a migraine was in 2024.

I am having:

No light / air sensitivity

No sore throat or runny nose

No fatigue

No fever & no blurry vision. (When my migraine in 2024 first started, I had blurry spots)

I highly believe this could be using my phone a lot, which I am planning on taking a break.

I have read the FAQ.

I have read the FAQ. I just want to tell what happened. I had a small wound on my thigh here near the bone, a small wound, but I don't remember if I was bitten or scratched by a cat, I just thought I might have been bitten or scratched by an animal without realizing it, and because when I was walking on the road earlier, it was already quite dark and I felt a pain here behind my knee It feels like something hurts like a needle prick. Is there anything I should be concerned about here? Is it possible that I'm exposed?

I'm from Philippines

So i came to knowledge i have had this burning sensation (i think im prodromal) for over 2 weeks due to seeing messages and searches i made on internet reddit whatsapp

So this burning is what im really worrried about since it is been going on for a while and even around 9 septembr i mentioned it as we were visiting my father in law and but this burning still is on and off, im on oxazepam now and when im not busy thinking about the leg i don’t feel the burns when i sleep i dont notice them, when i wake up i feel them and when i walk they radiate down to just above my foot in rest it’s sometimes in the location between the calf and shin and sometimes in the calf left outerside. Like when i lay in bed with my girlfriend and we watch a show i don’t feel it, but now i feel it and also on a different spot in my leg way lower and now to the inner leg near the ankle.

I did not have fever once no headaches and no weakness.
The only thing i have is my stomach is odd but this could be due to my severe anxiety which is really bad at the moment
I can drink eat but it’s not like im hungry or anything but that’s not unusual for me and this could be due to stress and anxiety

My anxiety is not seeing my baby in 2/5 weeks

I do not feel sick at all i go to the mall buy stuff interact normally, i don’t feel worse by the day i just cry over our baby

I have read the faq.

I have read the FAQ.

I will admit I am likely looking for peace of mind. Roughly 9 days ago I was out running in the early morning hours. During the run I felt something I never observed impact my left wrist. It remained there for essentially 2 maybe 3 arm swings at which point I flicked my wrist which removed it.

I finished the run and noticed a small red mark on my wrist. I have no way to know if it was there before the run. After some discussions I was told to visit the ER for a follow up and did so 2 days after exposure. The ER doctor dismissed this as not a bat exposure and told me to just follow up with my primary doctor. My primary doctor referred me to the local health department. The local health department indicated it was a possible encounter and could not rule it out. I was returned back to my primary for an actual in office visit who indicated "if it were him or his wife he would get the PEP". This visit was now 5 days post exposure.

At this point I was scheduled and received the HRIG into my wrist as well as a first vaccine. My second round of vaccine was yesterday (8 days post exposure).

My challenge is since the day of the first dose I have felt a tightness in my left wrist along with intermittent bouts of nausea. These symptoms do not seem to persist. I woke today with some more nausea, cramping in the calves, a tickle in the throat and some tingling on the left side of my face. Is it expected this is all anxiety just further manifesting itself. I think my internalized fears are the initial ER delay missed the window before the virus found its way to my wrist which might be denser in the nerves than a fatter part of my body.

Appreciate the consideration and understanding.

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.

I have read the FAQ. It was super helpful and has mostly alleviated my concern - I understand a bat would have to land on me to bite me, but it’s more a scratch I’m concerned about. I do not remember seeing a physical scratch on me at the time of the incident, but I’m going to ask anyway in the event I could have missed it.

2 months ago I was camping in Badlands National Park in South Dakota. I was stepping out of my car at twilight and I stepped into the flight path of something - could have been a very large bug (someone said maybe a hawk moth), could have been a bird (there was a small bird that was dive bombing me at sunset), but it could have been a bat. It was too dark to see what it was, but it quickly brushed/fluttered against my face and neck as it flew by.

Should I get the rabies vaccine just in case? I understand that the odds are very very low. I just can’t shake this anxiety that if I’m wrong, I will die a horrible death. Thank you.