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http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/05/11/rabies.case.reut/index.html
HOUSTON, Texas (Reuters) -- A Texas teenager bitten by a bat while he slept in his Houston-area home was in critical condition with rabies in a local hospital Wednesday, health officials said.
The high school sophomore awoke from a nap four weeks ago to find a bat had apparently flown in an open window in his home, said Harris County Health Department doctor Herminia Palacio.
"What we have is a history of the child waking up from a nap in his room and seeing a bat in the room and having felt the bat brush against him," she said.
The boy did not know he had been bitten, which Harris County veterinarian Dawn Blackmar said was not unusual because bats have "very, very tiny" teeth.
The bat was captured and thrown out the window, news reports said.
The boy began feeling ill last week, was taken to the hospital and diagnosed with rabies. He is being treated, but Palacio said the chance of survival is low. Ten people in the United States have died of rabies since 1998, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or CDC.
"Once a person becomes ill, there's really no effective treatment. Clinical illness with rabies is almost universally fatal," Palacio said.
Symptoms can range from flu-like fever and headaches to anxiety, delirium and hallucinations, the CDC said.
Bats, which wildlife experts say are beneficial animals because they consume large quantities of insects, are prevalent at this time of year in Texas because they are migrating north after spending the winter in Mexico, Palacio said.
Copyright 2006 Reuters. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
HOUSTON, Texas (Reuters) -- A Texas teenager bitten by a bat while he slept in his Houston-area home was in critical condition with rabies in a local hospital Wednesday, health officials said.
The high school sophomore awoke from a nap four weeks ago to find a bat had apparently flown in an open window in his home, said Harris County Health Department doctor Herminia Palacio.
"What we have is a history of the child waking up from a nap in his room and seeing a bat in the room and having felt the bat brush against him," she said.
The boy did not know he had been bitten, which Harris County veterinarian Dawn Blackmar said was not unusual because bats have "very, very tiny" teeth.
The bat was captured and thrown out the window, news reports said.
The boy began feeling ill last week, was taken to the hospital and diagnosed with rabies. He is being treated, but Palacio said the chance of survival is low. Ten people in the United States have died of rabies since 1998, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or CDC.
"Once a person becomes ill, there's really no effective treatment. Clinical illness with rabies is almost universally fatal," Palacio said.
Symptoms can range from flu-like fever and headaches to anxiety, delirium and hallucinations, the CDC said.
Bats, which wildlife experts say are beneficial animals because they consume large quantities of insects, are prevalent at this time of year in Texas because they are migrating north after spending the winter in Mexico, Palacio said.
Copyright 2006 Reuters. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
