Getting rabies shots

Posted on August 28, 2003 by admin
Getting rabies shots - August 28, 2003
Don Entz, a frequent 2B contributor, was bitten by a dog and has to get rabies shots. Here's some info on how to do it: If you get rabies injections, whether the preventive vaccine or the series of five injections after being bit by an animal, the Queen Saowabha Institute at the Thai Red Cross, on the corner of Rama IV and Henri Dunant roads, is the best place to go.
I went to my regular place right after being bitten on Sunday afternoon, Samitivej Hospital. The initial treatment was about 2800 baht. NOW, however, I see that each individual shot is 1380 baht....
The Queen Saowabha Institute charges only about 350 baht for each injection, about 1700 baht TOTAL for the entire series of five (5) injections.
Samitivej Hospital have undergone a total renovation. All-marble interior now. Looking really sharp. Even an Au Bon Pain in the lobby. It WAS looking rather dingy in recent years, but now it's up there with Bamrungrad in looks. (I guess that's why they have to charge so much for an injection.)
Update: It appears that Samitivej Hospital may not have been ripping me off after all. Their doctor said that Samitivej Hospital is using human diploid vaccine, which is basically the best kind, and a private hospital like that would be expected to use the best. The vaccine can be made from other species, but human is top quality, the primo stuff. She (the doctor) said that 1380 baht per shot is actually not unreasonable for that kind of vaccine and that at Saowapha they use something else that is cheaper, but still effective. She also said that individual treatment depends on a number of factors, such as if the bite produced any blood (mine did), no matter whether it's a lot or a little; and if the patient has been exposed to a vaccine in the past. I was last vaccinated 14 years ago, here in Thailand, and even though the doctor at Samitivej said that the vaccine itself lasts only for about a year, the doctor at Saowapha said that not being vaccinated in the past EVER AT ALL would mean that if the bite actually drew blood, even just a little, then in addition to the vaccine, I would need some sort of serum (can't remember what she said it's called), and THAT can run as much as 10,000 baht by itself. It's cheaper at Saowapha, but still around 5000 or 6000 baht; how much to take depends on weight. No one at Samitivej mentioned this serum to me, and I was not given it, but I'm guessing that since the doctor knew I'd been vaccinated before, he knew I did not need serum, and so there was no need to mention it. This whole episode is making it more and more clear, though, that all of you should GET YOUR RABIES VACCINATION NOW.
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