Development and evaluation of bat rabies education materials

Abstract

Bat exposures account for a quarter of the human rabies treatments in New York and a large share of the annual prophylaxis costs of US$1.8 million. To reduce the number of treatments associated with bats that are not captured and tested for rabies, the authors developed a refrigerator magnet to advise residents to consider the risk of rabies exposure from bat encounters, and a sticker to warn children not to touch bats. Surveys were administered to adults and children in schools, fairs and camps to assess the effectiveness of the magnet and sticker. After receiving a magnet, significantly more respondents knew not to immediately release a bat found in their home (82.5% of those surveyed a second time after receiving a magnet and 60.0% surveyed only once after receiving a magnet, compared with 16.7% of those surveyed before receiving the magnet and 26.5% of those never receiving one). Significantly more respondents said that they would not touch a bat after the intervention (95.5% versus 84.7% in the magnet survey, 95.5% versus 91.1% in the sticker survey) or that they would tell an adult about seeing a bat (94.6% versus 91.0%). These educational measures have the potential to significantly reduce health care costs associated with bat rabies without increasing the risk of human cases.