Bats in the bedroom, bats in the belfry: reanalysis of the rationale for rabies postexposure prophylaxis.

Background: We assessed the scientific basis and practical implications of recommendations made since the late 1990s to offer rabies postexposure prophylaxis (RPEP) for occult bat encounters, including recommendations to offer RPEP to persons with bedroom exposure to a bat while sleeping without evidence of direct physical contact.

Methods: The number needed to treat after bedroom exposure to a bat was calculated as the percentage of population exposed multiplied by the inverse of crude rabies incidence. Bedroom exposure was estimated in a population survey of 14,453 households.

The cost of preventing rabies at any cost: post-exposure prophylaxis for occult bat contact.

Investigations conducted by public health in Quebec, Canada, following report of human exposure to a bat were reviewed to evaluate the implementation of the recommendation for rabies post-exposure prophylaxis (RPEP) for household bat exposure (without documented direct contact). Of all RPEP recommended, 12% was for direct bat contact with bite, 7% for direct bat contact without known bite and 81% for household exposure. When bat was not available for testing, RPEP was almost always recommended.

An outbreak of severe respiratory tract infection due to human metapneumovirus in a long-term care facility.

Background: Human metapneumovirus (hMPV) is a newly described paramyxovirus that is mainly associated with bronchiolitis in children. We sought to describe the epidemiological, virological, and histopathological findings associated with a large outbreak of hMPV infection in a long-term care facility.

Methods: An investigation of the outbreak was performed by public health authorities, who used standardized questionnaires to collect relevant clinical information from all residents of the facility.