Key takeaways:
- After a bat was seen in a progressive care unit, a multidisciplinary group was deployed.
- The group recognized 131 potential exposures and ensured well timed post-exposure vaccination for these .
PHOENIX — A multidisciplinary group helped to shortly establish potential rabies exposures after a bat was seen in a hospital, resulting in well timed post-exposure vaccinations for sufferers, in line with a current research.
“A bat flying round in a well being care facility is a giant deal. It’s not like out while you’re tenting and the bats are flying above you — it’s a giant deal,” Roxanne Newsom, RN, scientific an infection preventionist at Corewell Well being, advised Healio. “In case you can’t visually monitor that bat and whether or not it went into affected person rooms or not, it’s a must to assume that the bat did go into affected person rooms.”
Knowledge derived from Newsom R, et al. EP 06. Introduced at: Affiliation for Professionals in An infection Management and Epidemiology; June 16-18, 2025; Phoenix.
She continued, “If persons are not capable of converse for themselves, in the event that they’re vented sufferers, in the event that they’re on medicines that make them somewhat delirious — they’ll’t verbalize whether or not they had been bitten or scratched by a bat.”
To current knowledge exhibiting the significance of fast and arranged response for stopping rabies in a well being care setting, Newsom and colleagues assessed the efforts of a multidisciplinary incident command heart group assembled after the invention of a bat a number of occasions over 5 days in a progressive care unit.
In line with the research, which was offered on the annual convention of the Affiliation for Professionals in An infection Management and Epidemiology, the group included the an infection prevention and epidemiology division, enterprise assurance and the native well being division, who labored collectively to establish uncovered sufferers and personnel and set up a vaccination clinic.
General, the group recognized three staff and 128 sufferers who had been probably uncovered to the bat.
One worker and 36 sufferers obtained post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) well timed and with out price. Of the remaining folks probably uncovered, 47 declined PEP and 47 turned ineligible after a interval of indecision.
Based mostly on these knowledge, Newsom mentioned the important thing takeaway is immediate identification of potential exposures.
“It is a essential concern,” she mentioned.
The second factor Newsom mentioned must be saved in thoughts is “don’t kill the bat.”
“Other than simply not killing dwelling issues, why don’t you wish to kill the bat? Since you want the mind tissue to be intact and recent for testing,” she concluded.
For extra info
Roxanne Newsom, RN, might be reached at roxanne.newsom@corewellhealth.org.
Sources/Disclosures
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Newsom R, et al. EP 06. Introduced at: Affiliation for Professionals in An infection Management and Epidemiology; June 16-18, 2025; Phoenix.
Disclosures:
Newsom studies no related monetary disclosures.
