We now know that seven people are being treated for rabies after handling a rabid bat on Fort Myers Beach.

It happened 18 days ago, and the search continues for three young boys who were also seen playing with that bat.

The Lee County Health Department calls this a "life or death situation." If a person has contracted rabies, it's not if, but when they will die if they don't get the vaccines.

WINK News talks to a local couple currently being treated for rabies. They did not handle the bat on the beach but did run into one on vacation.

Carl and Joyce Peebles went on a vacation they'll never forget. The trip to Georgia's Blue Ridge Mountains was cut short.

"It was really, really scary because I could just feel something on my back, so when I went like this (brushing off her shoulder), it fell on the bed," Joyce Peebles says.

It was a bat that landed on her while she was sleeping.

"So I, unthinking, just picked it up in a tissue and took it outside," Carl Peebles says.

That got the couple's daughters doing some research, alerting their parents that bats can carry rabies, a deadly disease that can be passed to humans and other animals.

"I think that they saved our lives," Joyce says.

"Handling an animal -- petting its fur -- you cannot contract rabies. You actually have to be exposed to the saliva from it's mouth," Dr. Tom Johnson says. "Bats have very small teeth and you can potentially be bit and not even realize it."

So as a precaution, Carl, Joyce, and their dog are all receiving a series of shots to treat rabies. Gone are the days of painful shots in the stomach.

"It's no more than getting a flu shot," Carl explains.

And much better than the alternative.

"Once you have contracted and have symptoms of rabies, it's too late," Dr. Johnson says. "It's almost uniformly deadly at that point."

Symptoms start like the flu -- headache, fever, and body aches. It progresses to erratic behavior and an irrational fear of water. Doctors say once that happens, it's too late. It can take a year for symptoms to surface.

That's why the search for the three boys seen playing, even kissing, a rabid bat on Fort Myers Beach is so crucial. Witnesses took pictures there on June 15th. The vaccine works best within just 10 days of contact. It's been nearly twice as long.

"I don't know if the children are just afraid, but if they're afraid of the shots, don't be, because there's nothing to it, nothing to be afraid of," Joyce says.

Experts say nocturnal animals, like bats, that show themselves during the day are likely sick. It's highly unusual that a bat would let a person pick it up. The best advice to follow is to stay away from wild animals all together.

The Peebles have received three of their four rabies vaccines so far.

Dr. Johnson says only six people in the world are known to have survived rabies.

Anyone with information on those unidentified boys is urged to call the Lee County Health Department.