To ask about the rabies vaccine?

[Thelowquietsea]

We are off to Bali in July for 2 weeks, to quiet areas but not necessarily those considered rural.

The NHS travel nurse strongly suggested having the rabies vaccine - it's £180 per person! There's so much debate on www about whether it's necessary, with views leaning towards it isn't, I just wondered what others thought if they'd been recently.

Just stay away from dogs, cats and monkeys and you'll be fine.

Very dangerous advice above. Rabies is fatal if you aren't vaccinated. There are no known cases of survival. It doesn't have to be a bite either, it can be a scratch. Please visit fit for travel as advised above or you know, take the professional advice you've already been given by the travel trained nurse you saw 🤷🏼‍♀️

I would definitely have the rabies vaccine, it’s surely worth £180?? In all countries where rabies is endemic, there’s a good chance you’ll meet a rabid dog, and cats and bats are also potential carriers.

As has been said, rabies is always fatal once symptomatic. Personally, I wouldn’t take the chance.

To the PP saying there is no point getting the vaccination if you will be able to get to a hospital within 15 hours, and that the treatment is the same whether you have had the vaccine or not, did you not read the link provided earlier, or read other posts? If you have the vaccine treatment IS different as you don't need the immunoglobulin, and there is a global shortage of immunoglobulin. So if you are unvaccinated, even if to you get to a hospital quickly, if they have no immunoglobulin you won't be able to be given the required treatment.

Rabies can be fatal if you are vaccinated. As people have said, the vaccine doesn't protect you, just gives you a bit of leyway to get to a hospital with the treatment.
I don't think the nurse they saw was "travel- trained"
There's nothing wrong with getting the vaccine if you're very worried. But it doesn't make any difference to the advice here- don't go near stray animals; if you are bitten (or licked on an open wound) see a doctor immediately; know where your nearest hospital is. All you're doing is buying time.

Rabies is horrendous. The risk minimization you really need to take is avoiding situations in which you might get it- not relying on the vaccination to protect you. It wont.

Whatareyoutalkingabout

Yes, that’s true, but having longer to get to a clinic for the vaccines could well be the difference between life and death. Still very much worth the money IMO.

But yes, take the other precautions recommended here.

Similarly, the hospitals have snake anti venom, but you would nevertheless be well advised to stay away from areas where you’re likely to encounter snakes.

Common sense also needs to be used, obviously.

whatareyoutalkingabout

Your username is very apt. Might be worth reading the thread and links before posting inaccurate ‘advice’

I used Nomad travel clinic for rabies vaccinations, I did a lot of shopping around and this was the cheapest i found at £49/vaccine, expensive but worth it for peace of mind

Foolish not to have it! India is teeming with stray dogs, cats, rats and various other animals that can transmit rabies (not always symptomatic). Rabies isn't always treatable, and it's a horrible, painful disease.

I had the 3 rabies jabs before visiting India, they weren't painful and I had no side effects.

OP isn't going to India

In parts of Asia, Bali included, traffic means even if a hospital is close to you it could still take hours for you to arrive. Bali does have a rabies problem and locals and tourists die fairly regularly from it; you’d be a numpty not to get the vaccinations

@Teddybear45 - whilst there is a traffic issue, whilst I have had started the vaccine process, it's incorrect to say people die 'fairly frequently' from rabies in Bali. This simply isn't true.

I think you've made the right choice OP.
Have a great trip!