Rabies vaccines for vets/staff?

Re: Rabies vaccines for vets/staff?

Christopher Saul — Thu, 13 Dec 2012 21:47:40 GMT

I contacted my local travel clinic ( our local GPs don't give rabies) and they said I could only have rabies vaccines if I was a registered bat handler, or if I was travelling to an endemic area. I was stupidly honest and said I was neither, just a concerned vet, and was told that I did not qualify for a vaccination even though I offered to pay for it

Re: Rabies vaccines for vets/staff?

Clair Firth — Thu, 13 Dec 2012 21:04:24 GMT

Just to add the view from rabid Europe.....I am studying in Vienna and we are all given the basic rabies vaccination course for free by our university. Officially we are not allowed to work in the uni clinic without proof of rabies vaccination....even though rabies has been "exterminated" from Austria for years (feeding foxes vaccine-doped bait etc). There is always a risk though, especially with being in the Schengen area and there being no border controls between here and Eastern Europe. We see a lot of puppy farmed puppies from Romania, Bulgaria etc and though the majority of them "just" have parvo, there have been rabid dogs from these sources in the past (according to our lecturers anyway).

So if our uni gives us the jabs for free (we don't pay any tuition fees either so it really is free!) they can't be that expensive.....why would the NHS refuse you when you have a legitimate reason (particulary around e.g. the Dover area) - this is a rhetorical question.....I know there is little or no logic to NHS decisions!

Re: Rabies vaccines for vets/staff?

plantagenet — Thu, 13 Dec 2012 17:27:43 GMT

I contacted my GP to request serology (had a course as a student) and vaccination - will cost but I would feel reassured. I have offered vaccination to my nurses

Re: Rabies vaccines for vets/staff?

Stephen Courtney — Wed, 12 Dec 2012 22:04:49 GMT

I've had an initial course, a post exposure course, and about 4 top ups courtesy of the NHS because of doing quarantine work.

I had already decided not to have any more - the last one was about 4 years ago - and i guess I'm probably set for life now.

Given the low risk of coming across a rabid animal in normal vet work in the UK I'm not sure I would be worried about getting myself protected if i was in a different situation. If you are not at specific risk eg zoo work etc, i doubt very much that the NHS would pay for a course - it was hard enough to persuade them to top our staff up when we were doing quarantine work, and it usually involved several phone calls and printouts of government policy waved at the doctors receptionists before anything was done.

If vet receptionists behaved like that we'd all have a very quiet life indeed.....

Re: Rabies vaccines for vets/staff?

Nicola Lawlor — Wed, 12 Dec 2012 18:29:56 GMT

Thank you all - will contact the GP I think and have a chat. Actually I did have a rabies vaccine course when a student as I went abroad to see practice, but that is way more than the 10 years, so most likely I'd probably be considered unprotected now.

Re: Rabies vaccines for vets/staff?

james herriot lied — Wed, 12 Dec 2012 17:02:01 GMT

[quote user="Rob Davis"]

[quote user="james herriot lied"]Interesting discussion with the nurse, too, about how the NHS is finding that many of the viral vaccines are proving much more persistent than was previously thought. Not just us, then.[/quote]

How do they find this out? I'm assuming they don't do challenge studies

[/quote]

No idea! Never thought to ask, to be honest. But it is interesting that in the same time frame as we're extending our expectations of duration of protection for the core vaccines, the humans are doing much the same. It's quite a while since Tetanus stopped being a blanket five-yearly jab for us, and became five jabs and you're out; I gather it's being pushed back further still.

But it's interesting re rabies jabs in humans - three to start, and then nothing for ten years plus; in dogs, one jab every three (or two if you're a border guard) years.

Re: Rabies vaccines for vets/staff?

Rob Davis — Wed, 12 Dec 2012 11:53:29 GMT

How do they find this out? I'm assuming they don't do challenge studies

Re: Rabies vaccines for vets/staff?

james herriot lied — Wed, 12 Dec 2012 09:11:25 GMT

Funnily enough, the NHS issued an internal statement on Monday about rabies boostering: it used to be thought that following the initial course, one would need a booster at 2-3 years; now they're pushing that back to 10 years +.

Which is good news for me and the OH - after thinking that we were going to have to go through the expense of another primary course, we just need a single top up and that should be good for life (or at least another ten years, till the next review).

Interesting discussion with the nurse, too, about how the NHS is finding that many of the viral vaccines are proving much more persistent than was previously thought. Not just us, then.

Re: Rabies vaccines for vets/staff?

Anthony Dennison — Tue, 11 Dec 2012 10:15:19 GMT

I got mine free on the NHS for travelling to India for EMS at a neutering charity. Come to think of it, I also got Hep B, Hep C amongst others for free, despite being told I'd have to pay for them when I first enquired...

A well written letter from your employer (if you are an employee) will usually be enough to get a free Rabies jab if there is a risk

Re: Rabies vaccines for vets/staff?

Alan Tevendale — Mon, 10 Dec 2012 21:25:01 GMT

LIke Marie and Louise I too got mine done on the NHS. I work with zoo imports and at the time we had a fair amount of quarentine work to do. Speak to your GP or the practice nurse at your local doctor. I found my lot fairly helpful. The did the first vacc for me then left me to do the next two shots of the initial course myself.

Re: Rabies vaccines for vets/staff?

Louise6732 — Mon, 10 Dec 2012 19:41:12 GMT

I occasionally have to check quarantine facilities and handle imported animals so had a rabies vaccine on the NHS. If you are at risk then I think it's easy enough to get on NHS. If you are especially worried then worth paying for it.

Louise

Re: Rabies vaccines for vets/staff?

Marie Kubiak — Mon, 10 Dec 2012 19:36:53 GMT

I got vaccinated a few years ago because of the risk from bats/zoo imports. I got it done free on the NHS and other than it being a bit inconvenient having to have time out to get three vaccines done it seemed a good idea. I suspect the risk from imported pets is generally fairly low as I would expect most will have come in via a rescue centre or home rather than directly from a feral population so I'd hope there would be some kind of recognition prior to arrival if clinical cases developed.

Marie

Re: Rabies vaccines for vets/staff?

Martin Atkinson — Mon, 10 Dec 2012 18:38:08 GMT

[quote user="alison howell"]Even once vaccinated you still have to have a booster within 24 hours of the bite/contact with infected saliva, so it wouldn't work as a general protective measure.[/quote] This is a belt and braces approach, what is the point of a vaccine otherwise? As it happens I was vaccinated many years ago as part of a trial and they chose vets around Heathrow as one of the possible likely places for an outbreak. I had another shot 6 years ago to go to Africa so I will hopefully have a head start.

Re: Rabies vaccines for vets/staff?

vs0u — Mon, 10 Dec 2012 16:43:11 GMT

Even once vaccinated you still have to have a booster within 24 hours of the bite/contact with infected saliva, so it wouldn't work as a general protective measure.

Probably we should wear gloves when touching the mouths of imported dogs though...

Re: Rabies vaccines for vets/staff?

Evelyn Barbour-Hill — Mon, 10 Dec 2012 16:38:23 GMT

Well, I'm not the only one on this forum who got vaccinated for travel abroad, so the protection at home is a comfortable bonus. Otherwise, yes, I'd be thinking about getting it done.