Dear fellow Lactnetters: I hope that there is still someone out there, not
having a ball in New Orleans, because I have a large problem here and MUST
have an IMMEDIATE answer. Mother of a 3 month old, exclusively
breastfeeding baby called me now to say that she, the mother, had been
bitten by a mouse. She went to the hospital ER, they gave her a tetanus
shot, and she was told by the Ministry of Health that she must start
tomorrow the anti-rabies shot series.
The mom was told by two doctors that she could continue breastfeeding, but
was told by a gynecologist to stop immediately. The mom has two fears: (1)
that she could be passing disease from the mouse bite itself on to the
baby through her breastmilk, and (2) that the rabies shot series would be
dangerous to a nursing baby - would he get dosed through breastmilk?
I need an authoritative answer, good people. I do not have Ruth Lawrence,
and my Tom Hale does not have an entry under "rabies antitoxin". And that
doesn't address the mother's fears about communicating a disease from the
mousebite itself to the baby. Again, the mom starts the shots tomorrow
morning (now 9:30 pm). I suggested that if she was afraid, she should pump
and dump until she got an answer, and we discussed several Israeli
addresses she could try, like the Poison Center.
IMPORTANT! I am NOMAIL presently. PLEASE send any responses to me
privately, and again, I will be very grateful for fast answers. I'll be
awake for about another hour, and will check my incoming. Will also check
first thing in morning before work.
Thank you all for any help you can give!
Best regards, Judy Knopf in Israel
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