immunization for travel to Southern India
Replies: 10 - Last Post: Jul 4, 2012 8:20 PM Last Post By: Api
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immunization for travel to Southern India
We are planning to travel to Southern India from the UK for a 9 night road trip from Cochin to Trivandrum in 3 weeks time. In my ignorance it is has now come to my attention that we need to have certain injections before travelling, although I am hearing conflicting which ones to have. We will be travelling with our 6 year old - can anyone shed any light please?1
HiWhile waiting for replies the Fit For Travel site might help (if you have not seen it already).
scoodly
5
The conflicting opinions generally come because everyone has their own opinion on what risks are worth it. But, it is monsoon now so food / water-borne diseases are a risk and it is usually the time dengue and malaria appears (sometimes, not always). Not much you can do about dengue except protect from mosquitoes. You might consider Hep A and typhoid for your daughter at least, because cases are relatively frequent during this period. Regardless of what you choose to do, make sure you get any fevers checked out quickly as they can eliminate the serious problems (standard check at this time is for malaria, dengue or typhoid). Rabies is also a big issue in India, so keep your daughter and yourselves away from monkeys and dogs.I agree you should discuss it with a good travel doctor though.
7
Rabies does not only matter if you are 2 days from a road! Probably not enough time to get them, but adequate treatment is often not easy to get in India. The standard post-bite vaccine is widely available (although frequently not stored properly, or injected properly), but the one that is required if you are not pre-vaccinated is extremely expensive and, therefore, not widely stocked (and usually only recommended by local doctors in very bad bites. WHO says it should be taken in all cases). If bitten, you need to get to a rabies clinic in a major city.8
On a similar vein, I have been told NOT to worry about any shots for Rajasthan in November. Opinions on this please???10
Everything is fairly much a judgement call, since people vary in what they consider a significant risk. Travelers have caught typhoid, hepatitis, malaria, dengue and rabies (and some have died). Pre-vaccination (at least for what is available) would presumably have prevented most of these cases, but many people travel without them and are fine. Because of the difficulty in receiving post-bite care for rabies I think people should treat it as any other disease that requires pre-vaccination (i.e., make a decision based on risk not that you can get help afterwards. Or, make sure you have a good travel insurance).
