That guy actually paid the price of a car for a rabies shot. It was probably cheaper to take a vacation south and pretend to be bitten again.
This particular point blew my mind, I didn't realise the US was getting screwed quite that hard when it came to healthcare costs.
3 shots of vaccine on day 1 + 1ml of human rabies immune globulin injected all around the exposed site. Then 1 follow up shot every 7 days for 3 weeks.
It’s the human rabies immune globulin that you hear the horror stories of people paying $20k for without insurance.
It’s strange that due to US medical billing and the uncertainty around it, I was trying weigh up the likely hood of actual infection from the animals saliva (protip for anyone visiting austin: there is actually a fair amount of rabies around).
If you develop symptoms, it’s usually too late and the survival rate is very low. That swung the needle in the direction of better to lose a car than be dead.
I’m not aware of any other country in the world - where getting those shots post exposure without insurance would have potentially cost that much.
It’s worth noting that the survival rate for symptomatic rabies isn’t just “very low” but basically zero. There are one or two known cases of people who made miraculous recoveries, but there is no treatment protocol known to be even slightly effective once symptoms appear.
I was actually about to return to the UK when the incident occurred, and I got the final shots there (100% free, no questions asked).
A vet is risking a lot to do that. If you find one, pay well.
Single shot isn't enough, 2 or 3 at one or two week intervals is what i've been told.