How Worried Should We Be About Rabies?

About this episode

Should you panic if you find a bat in your house? What happens if your dog tangles with a raccoon? Why are more people getting rabies shots this year? What should you do in the first few minutes after an animal bite? We tackle ALL those questions on this week's episode of the pod. You can also watch the convo on YouTube: https://youtu.be/H-1IsYtO4jU (00:00) Intro (03:25) Why does vaccinating our pets still matter? (06:40) What about pets that have adverse reactions to the rabies vaccine? (12:30) Some rabies stats (16:05) Why should we be cautious of getting close to wild animals? (18:10) What if you suspect you've been bitten or had contact with a potential rabies carrier? (20:20) What is the treatment for suspected rabies? (24:12) Should you go to the urgent care or the ER? (26:30) The current state of emergency medicine in general (33:00) Final Thoughts and Key Takeaways https://www.cdc.gov/han/php/notices/han00533.html https://www.cdc.gov/rabies/php/protecting-public-health/index.html https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/dec/09/rabies-kidney-donor-skunk-kitten https://archive.cdc.gov/www_cdc_gov/media/releases/2019/p0611-bats-rabies.html https://www.i