I'll be in the Chiang Mai valley for two weeks in early June 2012 working outside on a farm all day. My travel partner will be doing the same with elephants. She went to the travel clinic today (we live in Canada) and she was told we must get the Japanese Encephalitis vaccine. They showed her some statistics that were pretty scary and she thinks we should get it. We'd have to get two each and they're $265 a pop.

I did a bit of research and the reaction seems mixed. Of course, government and heath-centered websites all reccommend the vaccine, because when people do come back with JE, the results can be pretty bad. But, it seems that cases are rare and many other websites say it's nothing to worry about as long as you wear a DEET-based repellent.

What do you guys think? Is the risk of contracting JE worth the cost?

Let's try this over in the Health forum and see what the resident experts there think.

Topic Moved.

I would not get it.Very small risk, these risks are IMO way overdone in the West.

Edited March 16, 201214 yr by stevenl

JE is endemic in Thailand -- common enough that it is part of the routine vaccination schedule for children here and the government pays for it.

Pigs are the resevoir so anyone in a rural area, and certainly people working in a farm, should have it. Well worth the cost given that getting it can lead to brain damage or death.

it is also very common in Cambodia.