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Today we’re going to dive into the topic of the rabies vaccine alongside another personal experience of mine.
If you want to read about another hilarious thing that happened to me during my travels there, check out this blog. This blog is part of a series of personal stories I’m sharing that relate back to my discussion about common travel diseases and infections.
Nepal tested me physically many times; from frozen limbs while trekking, painful vomiting and diarrhea attacks, and of course what I came here to talk about today. If you prefer to watch this story instead remember you can always check out my Youtube channel.
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What were you doing in the kitchen?
Generally I wake up early in the morning to exercise, run, or do some kind of workout. My first morning in Pokhara, I ended up taking a break half way through and went down to the kitchen of the hostel to fill my water bottle.
I noticed a dog sitting underneath the table when I walked in, but didn’t think much of it. I figured since it was inside, it was likely the hostel owner’s dog.
On my way out of the kitchen, the dog snapped onto my leg like an alligator. The dog’s teeth had pierced through the front of my shin and the back of my calf.
The owner of the hostel heard me scream and came running out to help me.
“What were you doing in the kitchen?”, she asked me.
The kitchen, like the living room area, were communal spaces for people staying at the hostel, so I didn’t quite understand how I had done something wrong.
After talking to someone else who had been staying there for the past while, I learned that a few other guests had been bitten by the same dog.
Why have an aggressive guard dog inside? I will never know. Nepal is a crazy place sometimes, but believe it’s amazing and definitely worth penciling the place into your future travel plans.
Don't worry! The dog has a rabies vaccine!
The good part was that the dog was indeed the owners pet, and had received all of it’s vaccinations (including rabies) which the owner showed me after she helped me clean and cover my wounds.
The bad part was that I was going to start trekking the Annapurna Circuit two days after I got bit. Having to keep a wound disinfected and clean while trekking and having minimal access to facilities is not ideal. But I made it through without much pain or serious problems.
A note about the rabies vaccine
One of the infections I didn’t include in my blog about common travel vaccines is the rabies vaccine, which is why I wanted to bring up this particular story.
In a lot of countries, street dogs are very common, and I’d say run ins with them are quite likely. Always be cautious when you come close to any street animals while abroad, because you really don’t want a rabies infection. Infections are virtually 100% fatal (without treatment) so if you do get bitten by a street dog you need to get treatment immediately.
The rabies vaccine is available for travelers, but it’s costly. The set of vaccines consists of three immunizations, and each cost over $200.
Also important to know is that even if you receive the set of the rabies vaccine before being exposed, you will still require prompt medical treatment to protect yourself (which I’ll dive into next).
What happens if you get bit?
If you get bitten by a potentially rabid animal you need to seek medical attention ASAP.
First, extensive wound treatment is required: cleaning of the wound site, and rabies immunoglobulin administered (to the patient and into the wound). Rabies vaccinations are also required to be given to the patient on day 0, 3, 7, and 14 after being bitten.
This obviously means a lot of doctor visits, and possibly a lot of money which is not what you want to worry about while you are adventuring abroad.
What if I already got the rabies vaccine?
If you spent the money before hand to protect yourself from a rabies infection, you still need to get yourself to a doctor ASAP.
For someone who has been previously immunized, you still require treatment of the wound site (though without immunoglobulin). Next, two doses of the rabies vaccine are given on day 0 and on 3 after being bitten.
So even if you receive the set of rabies vaccines before hand, you’ll still need to fish out some money for medical treatment and some vaccines.
So what's the best option for me?
What I will reiterate now, like I did in my blog about other vaccines is this:
Understand and evaluate your risk for any vaccine you are considering receiving.
Where are you travelling to (think specific regions, rural or cities)?
How long will you be exposed to that risk?
What is your current health status?
After considering these few things, you’ll be in a better position to decide if getting a vaccine makes sense for you.
Is the expensive set of rabies vaccines necessary for you? Probably not unless you know for sure you are going to be hanging out with many rabid dogs, or unless you are going to be working closely with many animals (shelters, veterinarian clinics etc.).
Make sure you do enough research about the location you will be travelling to, and what risks are present in that area!
A bit of advice
My dog bite incident was a little different since the dog was someone’s pet, but what should you do if you’re faced with a random dog on the street?
Though it hasn’t happen too often, there have been a handful of tense situations where I’m face to face with a random dog.
Here’s a trick I’ll pass on to you.
Look the dog in the eye, and reach down to the ground or in your pocket pretending like you are going to throw a rock or something. I know it may sound kind of cruel, but believe me I’ve never had to actually throw rocks at a dog before—this has always worked for me, minus the dog that was hiding under the kitchen table.
What my scars look like today
That’s a wrap on today’s story and advice. I hope you found this helpful, and if you did share it with a friend who might also need to think about rabies on their next adventure.
I’ll be coming out with a few more personal mishap stories soon so stay tuned!
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Thanks so much for reading. Wishing you safe and happy future adventures my friends!
Much love,
Danika
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