Vacinations

[macaquinha]

Hello! I will be visiting Thailand in January and stay there a month. Do I need any vacinations, and which?

I know there are many recomandations and I am not sure which is really needed. All I know that I must have anti mosquito stick.

[ajahnlau]

Have been coming here for many moons and never had any shots. Also never known anyone who did get shots.

[RDN]

The only shot I had was for Hepatitis B - better safe than sorry.

[Sheryl]

Hepatitis A & Rabies are the 2 that count.

You should get Hepatitis A if you haven't already had it. The over 30 crowd in particular may never had gotten it as it was developed fairly recently. Hep A vaccine is a MUST for anywhere other than North America & Western Europe, and advisible even there.

Hep B essential if you are gay, or might use IV drugs, or otherwise come into direct contact with blood. If none of these, it is optional. It's a comparatively expensive vaccine so if you're "low risk"(none of the factors mentioned) it boils down to cost vs being extra safe (for example, there is some slight risk should you be in an accident and require transfusion).

Rabies is the one thing that is specific for Thailand...LOTS of rabid dogs here, and having the human rabies vaccine could save you a series of very painful post-exposure shots if you get bitten by a dog, which can happen pretty much anywhere in Thailand.

Regarding the mosquito stick...for comfort, yes, but people have an exaggerated impression of risk of disease. Risk of malaria is confined to nightime in a few remote forested places...unlikely exposure for a tourist. Risk of dengue is higher but it is very rare outside of the rainy season.

[RDN]

....Hep B essential if you are gay, or might use IV drugs, or otherwise come into direct contact with blood......

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

..or your new g/f tells you she has Hep B...

[macaquinha]

Thanx everybody.