dengue fever vaccinate or not?

[Hb22]

I started off on 15mg Pred in October and am now down to 10mg. I am off to India (Rajasthan) in February and dengue fever vaccine has been suggested. As it is a live vaccine I am not sure whether having the vaccine is worth the risk of contracting dengue. Any advice? Also big thanks to the community. Am finding you all very helpful and supportive. Festive wishes to everyone.

[SnazzyD]

Hello,

The official guidance is that it is contraindicated in those taking 20mg Pred or more a day for more than 2 weeks. Do have a good read of the info below too as it is quite new.

medicines.org.uk/emc/produc...

Given that you are still going to have some immunosuppression your mainstay is excellent bite prevention still as you don’t know how effective the vaccine will be in you as a person and there are other reasons not to be bitten. Other health information and cautions are here, in case you haven’t looked yet. Check the malaria map too, though likely you’ve been offered this vaccine, you’ve been to a travel clinic already.

fitfortravel.nhs.uk/destina...

[Hb22 in reply to SnazzyD]

thank you Snazzy. Going to read that now! Best wishes.

[PMRpro Ambassador]

I think this is something to discuss with the infectious disease specialists at the travel clinic. In theory, it is OK to have live vaccines on a dose of 10mg and getting dengue fever is a pretty unpleasant experience with a risk of death. As Snazzy says, really good bite protection is essential if you must go to the region - which works for everything else that bites as well. Well - maybe not tigers ...

[Hb22 in reply to PMRpro]

Many thanks. Useful intel. I now feel armed with more knowledge to talk to the travel clinic. Best wishes.

[SnazzyD in reply to Hb22]

Regards insect repellants, the Dengue carrying mosquito is most active in the day but will do at night if there is a lot of light about.

[Sophiestree]

I don't know the answer to this, and others are far better to advise, but my husband contracted Dengue Fever whilst working in Costa Rica and he was very seriously ill and took months and months to recover and was never really back to normal afterwards. So just wanted to say that protection, correct clothes etc is vital.

[Hb22]

Thanks. Hope your husband is on road to feeling fully recovered. Dengue sounds horrible. Definitely going to be packing long sleeves and lots of bite repellent. Best wishes.