School and health care officials told parents Friday the chance their child was infected with the virus was very low.
“We know the risk here is pretty small, but that doesn't matter to us,” Stevensville School Superintendent Kent Kultgen said. “That's why we have agreed to pay for the vaccine. We want to ensure that there is zero risk.”
The county health department ordered enough vaccine for 150 people.
A parent took the infected bat into five different kindergarten and fifth-grade classes for an apparent “show and tell” demonstration last Monday. The woman, who reportedly works as a nurse in Missoula, allowed the children to touch the bat and then offered them a hand sanitizer.
The bat was either killed or found by the woman's cat. The bat was put in a jar inside the family's refrigerator for 12 hours or more before it was brought to school.
Officials said the likelihood of the virus being transmitted from the dead bat to any of the children was very low.
“This animal was dead and rabies is not a real tough virus,” said Kammy Johnson, epidemiologist with the Montana State Health Department. “It needs a warm body to survive. ... It doesn't like to be dried out or be cold or be out in the open. We're saying the risk is very, very low.”
The rabies virus can only be transmitted from neural secretions and saliva from an infected animal through a person's eyes, mouth or an open wound, said Dr. Carol Calderwood of the Ravalli County Health Department.
“It can't be passed by touch of another person,” she said.
The incubation period for rabies can run between three weeks to seven years, said Bonnie Barnard, an epidemiologist with the Montana State Health Department. The vaccination will prevent the development of the disease.
Once a person develops the symptoms of rabies, there's nothing that can be done, she said.
“The disease is unfortunately fatal,” she said. “We know of only one person who has survived an exposure to rabies.”
Dr. Kirk Crews of Stevensville told parents at a Friday afternoon meeting the immunization is routinely given to people going overseas where rabies is more prevalent.
“This, as far as immunizations go, is one of the safer ones,” Crews said. “It's really like a flu shot Š except it's like getting a lot of them in a single month.”
The vaccination process includes a two-shot series initially followed by four additional shots of vaccine over the course of a month.
The risk of side effects are relatively low and consist mostly of local redness or swelling, Calderwood said. On very rare occasions, people do experience a neurological reaction to the vaccine, she said.
Several parents at Friday's meeting talked about the fear the issue was creating for their children and themselves.
Ravalli County Public Health Nurse Judy Griffin said officials understand how difficult this situation is for parents and their children.
“We know how hard this is for parents and their children,” Griffin said. “We want to make the (vaccination) clinics as comfortable as we can.”
Parents will have to make a decision on whether their children should be immunized.
“If I were a parent, even with the low risks involved in this case, I wouldn't want to run that risk,” Griffin said. “But that's going to be up to every parent.”
The Stevensville School District has refined its open door policy as a result of last week's incident.
The district will continue to allow parents to bring their students into the school each morning, but if they bring anything else with them, they will need to check in with the office first, Kultgen said.
“We don't want to have a knee-jerk reaction,” Kultgen said. “Parents can still deliver their children to the school Š but if they bring anything else at all with them, they will have to get a visitor's pass.” Teachers have been instructed to send parents carrying anything with them to the office, he said.
|
 |
 |
Add your comment now! Write your comment in the form below.
(Email address is for verification only. If you'd like to email a story, look for the link above)
Janet wrote on Oct 6, 2008 12:44 PM: