Travel Medicine and Infectious Disease (2014) 12, 687
Available online at www.sciencedirect.com
ScienceDirect journal homepage: www.elsevierhealth.com/journals/tmid
CORRESPONDENCE
Rabies vaccination among migrant workers in Thailand Madam, rabies is an important viral infection that is endemic in several tropical countries. Exposure to rabid animals is the risk for getting rabies infection. For prevention of rabies, the post e exposure rabies vaccination is the main method. It is recommended that all cases get animal bite should get the proper rabies vaccination. In Thailand, rabies is still an important public health threat. Rabies vaccination is a common medical service from the health care center in Thailand. Not only the local Thai people but also the foreigner get exposure to rabid animals and get the vaccination. The rabies vaccination in travelers is an important topic for present consideration [1,2]. Here, the authors report on the data of rabies vaccination among migrant workers visiting a medical center in Thailand. In year 2013, overall 45 migrant workers (25 males, 20 females) got rabies vaccination. At the same time, 240 local Thai people got vaccinated. All got bitten at foot or leg. The migrant workers are from Myanmar (24), Cambodia (15) and Laos (6). The rabid animals are dogs (37), cats (7) and rats (1). All cases get complete vaccine administration according to the vaccination schedule. Of interest, the ratio of migrant to local people who get rabies vaccination is equal to 1:5.3. This indicates the importance of rabies exposure among migrant workers. In fact, migrant worker is considered an underprivileged group and usually get hard to access health care service. However, in this report, the
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.tmaid.2014.10.001 1477-8939/ª 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
migrant has a good follow-up for vaccination according to the vaccine schedule comparing with local people [3].
References [1] Kardamanidis K, Cashman P, Durrheim DN. Travel and non travel associated rabies post exposure treatment in New South Wales residents, Australia, 2007-2011: a cross-sectional analysis. Travel Med Infect Dis 2013;11:421e6. [2] Parola P, Gautret P. Rabies vaccination in travelers: a global perspective. J Travel Med 2012;19:395. [3] Wiwanitkit V. Missed appointment in rabies vaccination schedule. Arq Neuropsiquiatr 2012;70:834.
Beuy Joob* Sanitation 1 Medical Academic Center, Bangkok, Thailand Viroj Wiwanitkit Hainan Medical University, China Faculty of Medicine, University of Nis, Serbia Joseph Ayobabalola University, Nigeria Public Health Curriculum, Surin Rajabhat University, Surin, Thailand *Corresponding author. E-mail address: [email protected] (B. Joob) 28 February 2014 Available online 13 October 2014
Available online at www.sciencedirect.com
ScienceDirect journal homepage: www.elsevierhealth.com/journals/tmid
CORRESPONDENCE
Rabies vaccination among migrant workers in Thailand Madam, rabies is an important viral infection that is endemic in several tropical countries. Exposure to rabid animals is the risk for getting rabies infection. For prevention of rabies, the post e exposure rabies vaccination is the main method. It is recommended that all cases get animal bite should get the proper rabies vaccination. In Thailand, rabies is still an important public health threat. Rabies vaccination is a common medical service from the health care center in Thailand. Not only the local Thai people but also the foreigner get exposure to rabid animals and get the vaccination. The rabies vaccination in travelers is an important topic for present consideration [1,2]. Here, the authors report on the data of rabies vaccination among migrant workers visiting a medical center in Thailand. In year 2013, overall 45 migrant workers (25 males, 20 females) got rabies vaccination. At the same time, 240 local Thai people got vaccinated. All got bitten at foot or leg. The migrant workers are from Myanmar (24), Cambodia (15) and Laos (6). The rabid animals are dogs (37), cats (7) and rats (1). All cases get complete vaccine administration according to the vaccination schedule. Of interest, the ratio of migrant to local people who get rabies vaccination is equal to 1:5.3. This indicates the importance of rabies exposure among migrant workers. In fact, migrant worker is considered an underprivileged group and usually get hard to access health care service. However, in this report, the
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.tmaid.2014.10.001 1477-8939/ª 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
migrant has a good follow-up for vaccination according to the vaccine schedule comparing with local people [3].
References [1] Kardamanidis K, Cashman P, Durrheim DN. Travel and non travel associated rabies post exposure treatment in New South Wales residents, Australia, 2007-2011: a cross-sectional analysis. Travel Med Infect Dis 2013;11:421e6. [2] Parola P, Gautret P. Rabies vaccination in travelers: a global perspective. J Travel Med 2012;19:395. [3] Wiwanitkit V. Missed appointment in rabies vaccination schedule. Arq Neuropsiquiatr 2012;70:834.
Beuy Joob* Sanitation 1 Medical Academic Center, Bangkok, Thailand Viroj Wiwanitkit Hainan Medical University, China Faculty of Medicine, University of Nis, Serbia Joseph Ayobabalola University, Nigeria Public Health Curriculum, Surin Rajabhat University, Surin, Thailand *Corresponding author. E-mail address: [email protected] (B. Joob) 28 February 2014 Available online 13 October 2014
