Rabies-to get or not to get

kelly

Hey,

I will be travelling to Trivandrum and then up the west coast starting this may for 2 months, I am just in the process of getting my shots and cannot decide if I should invest in the crazily expensive rabies shot ($400.00 can.)
I have heard mixed reviews about getting this shot, some do some dont. I would love any feedback.

Kelly

Dr Funkenstein

$400!

It's probably irresponsible of me to say so but I wouldn't bother at that price. Just avoid getting bitten and / or scratched. You need to watch out for monkeys as well as dogs.

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torryquine

IMHO It's only worth getting if you are likely to have a lot of exposure to animals (like if you were working as a vet for example) AND be more than a few days from a good hospital. Even if you have the rabies shot, it's only intended to give you enough immunity to get to hospital and have the whole series of jabs that you will still need if you if you are bitten by an infected animal.

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dani

how do you know if the animal was infected...

machadinha

This was also discussed a while ago on Should I delay trip for rabies, hep. b and japonese encephalitis shots? . Interestingly, that was also by a Canadian. Do Canadian doctors advise to get a rabies shot? I'm surprised if they do, as far as I know it's not recommended to anyone but people professionally engaged with animals.

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dzibead

I think the usual process is that if the animal can be identified and captured, it's euthanized (i.e., killed) and examined. If it has rabies, you then have to take the full-blown rabies treatment. If you are bitten by any animal capable of carrying rabies and it can't be identified or captured for examination, then the assumption is that you were exposed to rabies and you get the full-blown rabies treatment, which I understand is painful but better than the alternative, which is death.

So it makes sense to try to avoid situations where you could be bitten by an animal - no petting of dogs or feeding of (or otherwise interacting with) monkeys! (When I was in India last fall I read a newspaper story that said there are on average 50,000 reported monkey bites each year in India.) But this is not to scare you. The U.S. Center for Disease Control doesn't recommend routine rabies vaccinations for visitors to India. I don't know anyone who's travelled to India or who lives there who has had prophylactic rabies shots!

edwardseco

On the tourist circuit (big cities) its largely needless..

Nick-H

"It was definately brown. And it was here this morning, I know that because it bit me. There! That one! No, wait; there's another brown dog there, just like it... ... ..."

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sticky

Definately dont get rabies, it's pretty crap as far as diseases go, so im told....

But serioulsy, i posted a few things in that quoted discussion, and thought id do some investigating afterwards. Rabies shots are a course of shots over a period of time, you have to have 3 or 4 or something, and that gives you years (cant remember how many) of protection.
BUT you can just get one shot, and it will give you protection for a short period of time (3 months i think), and whats more, if you are bitten by an animal you can get the shots immediately after and that is often enough protection.

I got stung for oodles of cash from a travel doctor in Aus, and he lied about the availability of equivalent medicines overseas (told me i had to buy them in aus, so i braught them from him for about 20 times the price they were in thailand).

basically what im saying is that i bet you can get the first shot in india, and that will give you 3 or so months protection, and it will probably cost you 1/10th of the cost in canada.

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sticky

apparently there is a goan dentist who has kindly offered to answer questions in the health forum, Q&A about Dentistry-Answered by a qualified Goan Dentist

perhaps he/she might have an idea? or know a doctor who can give some clarity

machadinha

I don't know where you've been reading this Sticky. What I understand is
-- the shots are not normally recommended unless you're likely to get in close contact with animals
--they won't give full protection and you still need to get a further series if you suspect you've been bitten by a rabid animal.
As I wrote on the other thread my 1992 medical guide claimed there were no known cases among tourists anywhere in the world in the ten preceding years.
Anyway make up your own mind by all means. What's the deal with rabies though? Worry about crossing the street in any Indian town.

dzibead

Ah, yes ... the generic Indian dog does complicate matters!

sticky

I have been reading it in travel advisories on the net, and from what my doctor told me (which is the same thing that Kelly's and the guy who started the other thread's doctor said).
I have been given rabies shots before for previous trips, and would honestly prefer to avoid having to do it again. And I agree with you, there is more chance of getting run over - although the fact that no tourist has contracted rabies is no surprise, it’s because there is a vaccine!

Obviously doctors in different countries are giving different advice.

machadinha

No, sorry, as far as I know people don't normally take it, period. That's why I'd like to know if Canadian doctors (or Australian in your case) prescribe it. At $ 400 a go it wouldn't seem like a moot point.

sticky

Australian doctors definitely recommend it for extended travel, and by the sounds of it Canadian doctors too.



I was given rabies shots by a specialist travel doctor here for a 3.5 month trip to Malaysia/Thailand/Laos/China a couple of years ago, and they still recommend taking it: www.traveldoctor.com.au

This is one of their brochures www.imc-healthcare.com/India%20Fact%20Sheet.pdf


But then we don't have rabies in Australia, and are also pretty paranoid about letting foreign pests and diseases into the country so that may have something to do with it. Who knows.




It would be good to get this cleared up, I wasnt going to get a rabies shot for this trip to India, but if I can get a cheap booster when I get there I probably will.