Pete,
I am not a doctor but a friend of mine is a scientist in charge of a lab where they design these vaccines. I am in the process of getting my Rabies shots for trip to Mongolia! It is a judgement call but this is the whole story; the difference between being vaccinated or not does indeed provide you with a theoretical extra 24 hours... BUT (big BUT) when you are vacinated (3 shots), you only need two more similar vaccine shots 1 day and 3 days after the bite and you are good to go. These additional vaccine shot are (or should) be normaly available in any city! If you plan to go to Brazil, FYI, Brazil is a rabies hotspot.

If you are NOT vacinated you will need a shot with 15ml SERUM (something entirely different) within 24 hours directly into the wound (extremely painfull) and that serum is very difficult to come by in remote area's. A giant country such e.g. Indonesia has none of it! Even here in the Netherlands it is only stocked in three places. Expect that none of it will be available in coutries like Peru and Equador! This means you will need an emergency Medivac to a country where they have the Serum and you will be tied down for minimum 3 weeks for after treatment.

On top of that note that Rabies is the ONLY virus with a 100% mortality rate! No Cure Possible. (Ebola with a mortality rate of some 50% and Marburg with 70% are benigh compared to Rabies)

Now ask your self again! :confused1:

Cheers,
Noel

yep I won´t pet animals in faraway countries. But everybody´s free to do as they see fit, this possibility is still good to keep in mind.

Dead right.......

It's not 24 hour hour rule as much as not needing that rare, extra shot that the vaccination saves you from...

In South America, feral dogs are everywhere. They live on the outskirts of most towns and villages and they just LOVE to chase motorbikes. I was glad of my MX boots when I had to kick my way through a pack of dogs with 2-3 of them trying to nip and my feet. A stern Alpinestars Tech 10 to the face and a twist of the throttle and they give up...

Get the shot....

__________________
Did some trips.
Rode some bikes.
Fix them for a living.
Can't say anymore.

Research has thrown up something interesting on this. I wonder of the people who have had Rabies Jabs how they were given. It appears there are two methods:

1. Intramuscular - which is jabbed in a muscle somewhere ( like your arm / rear end! ) the most common type and easier to do.

2. Intradermal - this is given under a layer of skin which is very effective, but does take a little more "skill" Also has the advantage of requiring less vaccine, resulting in a considerable cost advantage

Both methods require the same "course" ect....


So my question is which method did you have...........and did it work :confused1: ( not expecting any replies to that last bit other than "yes" )

I am planning to seek more professional advice on this before making my decision. But I guess it will depend on what is available in my area.

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Regards Tim

Learning my craft for the big stuff, it won't be long now and it's not that far anyway

I had three injections (HDCV) in 2007. Over a couple of months... Then a booster in 2010.

__________________
Did some trips.
Rode some bikes.
Fix them for a living.
Can't say anymore.

I had my 3 jabs in 2007 (for South America) intramuscular.
2 months ago, I had a single booster (valid 3 years) again intramuscular.

My husband was told, however, in another clinic, that the 1007 jabs would still be giving protection and a booster was not necessary. go figure...

Was never bitten so until now, I don't know if it works. A blood analysis would reveal it, but it is very expensive (I had to do it to import my dog from Brazil to the UK so I know! $$$$$!)

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Maria

www.franglais-riders.com

I'm having the intradermal, cost Euro 100,- I trust it works, the University Hospital where I am getting them has many years experience. They give three shots, similar to TBC Mantoux test, with sufficient interval so your body will for sure make anti-bodies. With one or two shots, that would be uncertain and subject to the individual. With 3 shots, clinical testing has proved everybody makes the required anti bodies and blood testing is not required anymore. That is how they explained it to me.

I was sold on the vaccination after I read what Rabies is and how unpleasant and deadly it is to get infected (Rabies - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia). And very few countries are Rabies free...

There are very few infections which scare me, Rabies is in every sense nasty.

I think we all can agree that it's small price to get the 3 jabs to have a decent chance to survive if bitten by dogs, bats, etc.

And just last year I was attached by dogs in Romania, 3 times within 30 km, no fun at all.

Casper

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I think that is putting it very, very mildly. Rabies is 100% lethal. And you don´t even have to get bitten to get infected by it.

..actually I can´t right now remember another disease, that is like this.

(Won´t let fear ruin my trip, and I like animals, but in most places I do steer well clear from them, because of this possibility).

I actually think it's something like 96%, but yes a nasty piece of work. I've also seen the result of meningitis carrying tigs...

So in general get the vaccinations, it might save your life.

Casper

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www.c-note.dk

My initial course was paid for privately but administered free of charge at my doctor (NHS)

They could not fit me in for my boosters (second lot some years later), so I had to go to a NOMAD clinic to get these done!

all have been intra muscular.

back in 1992 I was given some inoculation that had to be injected into my stomach, that was not nice! I think it was for rabies but I am not sure!