u/Icy-Vegetable-2280

I (female in my 20s) was at a fair the other day with my friend. There was a petting zoo and we pet and fed a lot of animals. At the end of the day, my friend tickled me, and I reflexively bit his forearm because he wouldn't stop. Right after biting, I realized that his forearms were still dirty from the animals because, although we washed our hands, we didn't wash our forearms. I quickly rinsed out my mouth with some water, but I'm still concerned about ingesting some microscopic worm eggs. I read that tapeworms can go into your brain, heart, and eyes, which is absolutely terrifying.

I know worms get transferred from feces to mouth, but I'm worried because some animals were walking around their own feces and then climbing up against the cage bars. And when petting the animals, we would lean our arms on the cage bars. And our forearms came in contact with the animals while petting them too.

I am not asking for medical advice. I'm just looking for any insight or information anyone might have about this. I'm not very knowledgeable about parasites or that sort of thing. I might bring this up to my doctor when I have my yearly physical if it's a real concern.

I (female in my 20s) was at a fair the other day with my friend. There was a petting zoo and we pet and fed a lot of animals. At the end of the day, my friend tickled me, and I reflexively bit his forearm because he wouldn't stop. Right after biting, I realized that his forearms were still dirty from the animals because, although we washed our hands, we didn't wash our forearms. I quickly rinsed out my mouth with some water, but I'm still concerned about ingesting some microscopic worm eggs. I read that tapeworms can go into your brain, heart, and eyes, which is absolutely terrifying.

I know worms get transferred from feces to mouth, but I'm really worried because some animals were walking around their own feces and then climbing up against the cage bars. And when petting the animals, we would lean our arms on the cage bars. And our forearms came in contact with the animals while petting them too.

Is my concern valid? How likely is it that I have contracted worms? Or am I overthinking it? Is this worth mentioning to my doctor when I go to my yearly physical? I'd appreciate any advice or insight.

I (female in my 20s) was at a fair the other day with my friend. There was a petting zoo and we pet and fed a lot of animals. At the end of the day, my friend tickled me, and I reflexively bit his forearm because he wouldn't stop. Right after biting, I realized that his forearms were still dirty from the animals because, although we washed our hands, we didn't wash our forearms. I quickly rinsed out my mouth with some water, but I'm still concerned about ingesting some microscopic worm eggs. I read that tapeworms can go into your brain, heart, and eyes, which is absolutely terrifying.

I know worms get transferred from feces to mouth, but I'm worried because some animals were walking around their own feces and then climbing up against the cage bars. And when petting the animals, we would lean our arms on the cage bars.

I'm not looking for medical advice. I'm just looking for any insight or information anyone might have about this. I'm not very knowledgeable about parasites or that sort of thing. I might bring this up to my doctor when I have my yearly physical if it's a real concern.

I got bit by a rat at a pet store the other day. I put my finger next to it's cage because I thought it was just trying to smell me, but then it stuck it's mouth out between the bars and chomped down on my finger. It drew blood. I quickly applied hand sanitizer on the wound and washed my hands an hour later after getting home. I'm just wondering if a pet store rat can have rabies?

I feel like a pet store rat should not be able to have rabies, but I found out that rats don't get rabies vaccinations and so I've been worrying about this. I know that there's a very small chance that rodents can have rabies, and I'm nervous that I'll become part of that statistic of people getting rabies from rodents. I have no idea if this rat or any of it's group mates could have been in contact with the saliva of a rabid animal somehow (not sure if the rat has been in the store it's entire life, or if it was surrendered, or what other conditions it's lived in before).

I also can't monitor the rat for 10 days to see it's condition because it probably got adopted already. It seemed to be acting normal when it bit me (apart from the biting itself, which was unexpected). It was just sitting cutely near the edge of the cage looking at me before biting me suddenly. Not sure why it bit me though, since I've heard rats are super friendly and make great pets.

I'm not really sure what to do. Is this a valid reason to go to the ER?

I have read the FAQ.

I got bit by a rat at a pet store a few days ago, and I'm rather worried about it. It drew blood when it bit me. For context, I'm a female in my 20s.

My friend and I were hanging out and we went to a pet store. There was a cage with rats, and one of them was looking up at me very cutely. I was just trying to let it smell me by putting my hand next to its cage, and it just stuck out its mouth through the bars and bit me. It happened really fast and I did not have enough time to pull away. It drew blood, and it felt like it got me pretty deep. I quickly pulled out my hand sanitizer and applied it to the wound. My friend mentioned that they saw a stranger get bit right before me, I'd guess maybe 10 seconds before me. Then my friend drove me home, while I continuously kept putting more hand sanitizer on my wound throughout the drive. After getting home, which was maybe about an hour after the bite, I washed my hands thoroughly.

There's three things I'm really worried about:

1. I'm terrified of rabies. Is there any chance that a pet store rat could have rabies? This has been eating away at me every since it happened. I've been doing research about it, and it seems rather unlikely. But it just terrifies me because once the symptoms start, you're pretty much dead. And I'm just paranoid that I'm going to end up being a statistic. I asked the worker there, but she sarcastically told me that the rats have LOTS of rabies, and then said she's kidding... I also found out that rats don't get vaccinated for rabies (according to a google search I did), which makes me more worried.
2. I'm worried about HIV transmission. The rat bit a stranger right before me, and then bit me right after and drew blood. I don't know the HIV status of that stranger who was also bit. I'm scared that the rat could have had the stranger's blood on it's teeth when it bit me. Like I said, the rat bit the stranger probably 10 seconds or so before me, but I didn't notice until my friend told me. In my mind, this is similar to sharing a needle. How likely is it to get HIV from this?
3. Lastly, I'm worried about Rat Bite Fever or any other diseases that could come from a rat bite. However, after doing some more research, I've calmed down about this one a bit because I will go to the doctor if I develop any symptoms. I don't have any symptoms right now, and my finger seems to be healing well, even though it hurts sometimes.

I'm a hypochondriac, and I oftentimes feel anxiety and paranoia related to my health. My friend thinks I should be fine. I asked my parents what they think, and they said they think I should be fine as well. I've been doing research to try and calm myself, but I've found conflicting information. Like I mentioned, I'm most worried about rabies and HIV.

I called a nurse today to ask for advice, and she said that she recommends getting tested for a potential blood borne pathogen exposure. She said the tests would last a whole year. This would test for HIV and other things like that. She said it's unlikely that I would get HIV from this experience, but that to be on the safe side, she recommends starting these tests. I scheduled an appointment for later this week with my primary care doctor because I want a second opinion before deciding what to do. I feel a lot more anxious now because I thought that maybe it was just my anxiety and hypochondria, but the nurse's response makes me think that it could actually be something serious.

I also asked the nurse about rabies, and she said that it's highly unlikely for me to get rabies from this incident, but she can't say there's a 100% chance that I'm safe, which is also alarming. She said that if I want to get the rabies shots, I have to go to the ER. However, from the research that I did, I found people saying that there are no known cases, or that it's a really rare occurrence, in which rodents transmitted rabies to humans, so for a rat from a pet store to transmit rabies to me seems like such a long shot. However, my anxiety and paranoia about health is making me feel like "what if I'm going to end up being the first that happens to?" But also, is it really true that there are no known cases of rabies getting transmitted to humans from rodents? Or is that just a myth? I feel like the more research I do about this, the more anxious I get. I don't want to go to the ER and get the rabies shots if it's not needed because my parents said it would do more harm than good, but I'm still trying to decide for myself.

While I'm waiting for my appointment with my doctor, I wanted to ask about this on here to try and get as much information as I can beforehand. I am not asking for medical advice. I am just asking for people's opinions so that I can make the best decision for my next steps. Does anybody know anything about this? Especially about rabies and HIV transmission from my scenario? I would appreciate any insight that anyone can give.