Rabies pre exposure shots in Delhi

gqsmoothie

I went to the travel clinic here in Raleigh NC the other day to get some shots for my India trip which begins in Sept. The doctor recommended that I get the rabies pre exposure shots before heading out. But the cost is $530! I've been thinking that I could just get the first in Delhi upon arrival. Then do a 10 day circuit from Delhi to Agra, Jaipur and back to Delhi for shot #2, then go to Amritsar for about two weeks, then back to Delhi for the 3rd shot.

So what I am asking is if anyone knows of a specific doctor, clinic, hospital in Delhi that I can contact before leaving the US to set up an appointment. (or do you just walk in and wait?)

camelgirl

This sounds like a good plan if you are planning on staying in one place in India for a few weeks to get all 3 shots. I don't know how difficult it would be to go to 3 different doctors/clinics. It might be best to get them all at one place and I think there still will be the same risk until all 3 shots are completed.

See my posting #35 and #47 on this thread. Rabies in Kerala

Even though I got the pre-exposure vaccine, I also went to India numerous time before I got it. It's certainly a risk with rabies being such a big problem in India, but I think most travelers don't get it (I think everyone should but it's very expensive).

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machadinha

<cross-posted with CG>

You can just walk in and wait yes, or that was my experience anyway getting another shot. At the time, I picked a (Delhi) hospital by a combination of what my guidebook recommended and what my hotel owners had to say. I felt I was adequately and professionally and kindly served, in a hospital that might not have looked quite like what you're used to if you're not familar with the "developing world" (although I often feel the rural US may come a lot closer to this than many of us realize, but this entirely as an aside, and I don't know about hospital conditions there).

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gqsmoothie

Camelgirl,

I was planning on getting all 3 shots from the same place. I think you're right that the level of risk is there till all 3 shots are done with. I had never thought of going to 3 different places for the shots, wonder how difficult that would be?

gqsmoothie

Does anyone know the cost for all 3 shots? I saw on another thread (that was a few years old), that all 3 could be gotten for about 350 rupees!

machadinha

No idea about costs. Since you'll normally carry the details of what you've had in a vaccinations pass kind of thingy, I suppose you could theoretically spread them out alright (that shot I got was a follow-up to an ongoing course that I'd started at home, for instance). However, if this can be avoided (I had no option as I'd started it too late) and for your own peace of mind, I'd rather get them all in one place yes, of course, so your original plan made sense to me. The less chance of confusion and screw-ups the better, right. Plus, for similar reasons I'd rather seek out a hospital in a major city anyway, so again returning to the same clinic in Delhi in your case for it might make every bit of sense.

camelgirl

Sorry gqsmoothie--I shouldn't post anything before my first cup of coffee I do see that you were coming back to Delhi each time.

About price. Unless someone here has actually done this, it isn't very clear how that works.

Speaking with someone who's knowledgeable about this subject but hasn't actually done it, here's what I found out:

It's very inexpensive to get rabies shots--pre and post. Around $10 each. BUT, the vaccines are probably subsidized by the government and you may not be able to just walk in and ask for them and get that price BUT you may get it or you may pay more (but definitely not USA prices).

We have a good friend who got the pre-exposure rabies vaccine in the USA, got bitten by a dog in India, got the follow up post-exposure shots very cheaply and easily, didn't matter that she was a foreigner, price-wise.

We don't know if it's the same for the pre-exposure vaccine.

Now we need one of our resident India or India resident experts to tell us how this would work price-wise!

I've probably made this more confusing sorry, but it is confusing!!

zoltan

My BIL is a chemist in Jaisalmer. He told me that the rabipur vaccination is available over the counter (it's kept in a fridge out back) and costs around rp50 for a shot.

As near as I could understand, it's availalbe to anyone who can pay - not subsidised.

But as you will be in Delhi, I'd be suggesting the Apollo Hospital. Well known & professional.

Prices will be more expensive than the local doctors but significantly cheaper than getting the shots back home.

Cheers
Zoltan

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Nick-H

That's interesting, and useful that we have someone with a contact in the trade

But it does make me think ice-cream!

Why? Another piece of Nick-H on-line lunacy? Not this time...

Ice cream is one of the most dangerous things to eat in India because of the frequency of power cuts. In a busy restaurant with a large turnover it should be fine, but in a place where the stuff may have been in their fridge for a few days, thawing and freezing from time to time --- dodgy.

So I have now made a mental note to get anything like a vaccine that should be stored in a fridge from a larger pharmacy, or a hospital pharmacy, where they are more likely to have back-up power. Seeing as how the hospital is needed to give the injection anyway...

Thanks Zoltan!

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Shivani Skydancer

Hi

I got licked by a stray dog on my hand where I had an unhealed tiny open sore. So I went to a doctor and he recommended I have the full course of rabies shots. The doctor instructed me to simply go to a reputable pharmacy and purchase one pack of 'Verorab' (made in France)vaccine. I took it back to his clinic and the doctor injected me. Similarly, for the next 3 shots, I bought them at various pharmacies and went to different medical clinics. It worked out very cheap! The medicine cost about 300 to 320 Rupees for each pack and the clinics charged about 50 rupees to administer the shot in my arm.

I would suggest steering clear of Indian-made rabies vaccines, because if you have been following the news, you will know that many are counterfeit - made by illegal drug companies with dubious (often worthless) ingredients!!

Keep in mind that approximately 20500 people die of Rabies in India every year! http://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retri...1206000117)and
http://www.india-today.com/itoday/20000918/health.shtml

Don't take any risks, even saliva can transmit the disease if it enters your skin through the smallest scratch!

Nick-H

That's 20,000 out of 1.6 billion. That is a tiny, tiny risk, really. But, of course, any possible exposure should be treated very seriously; you catch rabies, you die.
Again, a small risk. There have been problems recently, though, with some government-establishment made vaccines not meeting international standards, and I believe one institution is currently closed.


'counterfeit' means manufactured without payment of royalties to the non-Indian manufacturer, as in get-your-viagra-equivalent-cheap-in-India --- it doesn't mean there is anything wrong with the drug.

'fake' however, means coloured powder made into pills. It does happen. Newspapers like to publish scary percentages to make headlines. I wouldn't worry about it, especially if buying from a larger, or hospital, pharmacy.

On the other hand, with a possible life-or-death vaccine, I think I too might go for the international brand!

Just keep dogs and monkeys at arm's length plus a few inches and all this can remain theory

camelgirl

All good advice & thank you Nick for the ice cream analogy! Sounds funny but it's true. I'd also go to Apollo or someplace like that for the vaccines.

As far as counterfeit meds...we're having a problem here in the US also. And it's not new. Most recently it was with a commonly used prescription blood thinner called Heperin http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/03/.../06heparin.php the ingredients come from....drum roll......CHINA! This is actually very interesting because it's a problem that started with the pig farmers who produce its raw form. I won't go on, too

Just mentioning this because with our global economy, all the checks & balances to keep things safe (meds, toys, etc.) seem to be missing.

zoltan

Happy to provide the information Nick.

While this is a very small number, I'd rather vaccinate (pre-exposure), than become a statistic (for the wrong reasons).

Cheers
Zoltan

camelgirl

I'm with Zoltan. There are risks that cannot be avoided and are a part of everyday life, or the consequence of not doing something is small.

If we have an opportunity that actually gives us an advantage against a deadly encounter in a country with the highest rate of rabies deaths in the world, it seems like an easy choice (for some of us). Again, I did about 4 India trips without the pre-exposure. Guess as I get older I get more worried or wiser?

Nick, regarding my post about heperin, what the pig farmers did was counterfeit (they substituted another substance, thereby a fraud --see (partial) definition below). I was also just quoting from the linked article.

WASHINGTON: U.S. government drug regulators have discovered that a critical blood thinner that has been linked to at least 19 deaths and whose raw components are produced in China contained a possibly counterfeit ingredient that mimicked the real drug.



adj.
1. Made in imitation of what is genuine with the intent to defraud: a counterfeit dollar bill.
2. Simulated; feigned: a counterfeit illness.

n.
A fraudulent imitation or facsimile.

Professor Camelgirl rests her case

Groovemeister

$500

In the UK it's available on prescription for £7.10 for all three shots. And lots of people complain about being charged for prescriptions!

The NHS is marvellous really.