Abstract:
Human-bat interactions are now the source of the majority of locally acquired human lyssavirus infections in many high-income countries without hematophagous or \'vampire\' bat species. This study aims to identify the most common types and circumstances of bat exposures occurring among members of the general public in high-income countries with no hematophagous bats, and to describe the health-seeking behaviours associated with exposures in these settings. We conducted a scoping review of relevant academic and grey literature on bat exposures and confirmed bat lyssavirus infections among members of the general public in Australia, Canada, the United States and high-income European countries from 1996 to 2019. Case studies and population-based studies were included for analysis, and findings were extracted and synthesized by the literature type and geographic region. A total of 63 publications were identified, including: 47 case studies and 16 population-based studies. Overall, most exposures in Australia and Europe were intentionally initiated by humans and involved attempts to handle, touch or help a bat. In North America, however, household exposures were more common and predominantly involved a bat being found in a room or area where a person had slept. Studies also showed that a proportion of bat exposures in high-income countries go unreported in the absence of a public health investigation and are therefore unlikely to receive prompt treatment. The results of this review suggest that the most effective strategies for preventing bat exposures vary between regions and that health-seeking behaviours following bat exposures could be improved in high-income settings.
摘要:
在许多没有吸血或“吸血鬼”蝙蝠物种的高收入国家,人与蝙蝠的相互作用现在是大多数本地获得的人类溶血病毒感染的来源。本研究旨在确定在没有吸血蝙蝠的高收入国家的普通公众中发生的最常见的蝙蝠暴露类型和情况。并描述在这些环境中与暴露相关的寻求健康的行为。我们对澳大利亚公众中有关蝙蝠暴露的相关学术和灰色文献进行了范围审查,并确认了蝙蝠lyssavirus感染。加拿大,1996年至2019年美国和高收入欧洲国家。案例研究和基于人群的研究被纳入分析,并按文献类型和地理区域对研究结果进行了提取和综合。共查明63份出版物,包括:47个案例研究和16个基于人群的研究。总的来说,在澳大利亚和欧洲,大多数暴露是由人类故意发起的,涉及处理的尝试,触摸或帮助蝙蝠。在北美,然而,家庭暴露更常见,主要涉及在一个人睡觉的房间或区域发现蝙蝠。研究还表明,在没有公共卫生调查的情况下,高收入国家的一部分蝙蝠暴露没有报告,因此不太可能得到及时治疗。这项审查的结果表明,预防蝙蝠暴露的最有效策略在地区之间有所不同,并且在高收入环境中,蝙蝠暴露后寻求健康的行为可以得到改善。