Korean Job Discussion Forums

[stevieg4ever]

Has anyone had these shots administered from Korea before?

I had the Japanese Encephilitis one 2 days ago but I wasn't sure what they gave me as it was only one shot and the doctor didn't mention needing another afterwards.

Just as a precaution I did some research on the internet and on here and I found that you actually need 3 shots to complete the vaccine. Lonely Planet guide books also state this. This got me worried as I had already had 1 shot and paid about 30k.

I asked the health lady at the school and she did some research on the net after much conversation with both me and the surgery where I had the jab. I then found out that in Korea they administer a live vaccine, one shot only which is what I assume I had (I did this by emailing the international clinic in Seoul, Itaewon and they said that the information on the website [which says you require 3 shots] is invalid).

The health lady said she found the same thing on the net: that Japanese Encephalitis is given as a live vaccine. The problem is - you guessed it - the surgery I went to doesn't speak good English.

However I had my mum (in the UK) check with both her surgery and our neighbours (who are both doctors) and they said that Japanese Encephalitis is definitely 3 shots.

Now I am confused.

I will try and get further confirmation from my middle school co-teacher who speaks better English tomorrow but I was wondering if anyone has had any similar experiences in Korea or can shed some light on the issue?


Big thanks to the poster Ttompatz who has already been really helpful.

[chapter]

I was going to get this in Canada before I came.

They told me to wait until I came to Korea because

a) It would be a lot cheaper.

and

b) It wouldn't be 3 shot like it would be in Canada.

[ttompatz]

Vaccination

A live attenuated vaccine produced in hamster kidney tissue culture is in widespread use in horses in China (13). This vaccine reduced disease by about 85 percent. An inactivated vaccine prepared in mouse brain is licensed in Japan, Korea, Taiwan, India, and Thailand for use in humans. A similar inactivated product made in hamster kidney tissue culture has been used to immunize children annually in China since 1965. Live attenuated vaccines are used to immunize pigs in Japan and Taiwan ( and humans in China (13A).

[stevieg4ever]

Read this link, it seems like the one-shot vaccine is safe.

http://www.path.org/vaccineresources/japanese_encephalitis-vaccine.php

I will continue researching it though but Chapter's words are somewhat encouraging.

From the link:

"Fortunately, an additional option for Japanese encephalitis (JE) vaccination has recently become internationally available. The live, attenuated SA 14-14-2 vaccine was developed in China and has been used there since 1988. Outside China, it has been licensed and used in South Korea and Nepal, licensed in Sri Lanka and, most recently, it was licensed and introduced in India in 2006. The vaccine is very effective and inexpensive. More than 200 million doses have been given without any recorded severe side effects. It also appears feasible that a single dose of vaccine will provide life-long protection.

The next step in making this vaccine more widely available will be prequalification of the vaccine by the World Health Organization. It is exciting that this vaccine, developed and produced in Asia, may provide the solution for expanding JE vaccination to protect all the children of Asia.
"

[stevieg4ever]

This is from the WHO site:

https://www.who.int/vaccine_safety/topics/japanese_encephalitis/live_attenuated/en/

"The SA 14-14-2 live attenuated JE vaccine, produced by the Chengdu Institute of Biological Products, has been used on a large scale in China since 1988, and more recently has been being exported to several countries in the region. The uptake of this vaccine has increased substantially, and it is now the most widely used JE vaccine. "