What should I do if my child is bitten by a dog or monkey in Bali?

Act fast on the wound itself, before anything else. Wash the bite or scratch under running water with plain soap for a full 15 minutes, working the soap into every part of the wound rather than just rinsing the surface. Avoid rubbing too hard on broken skin, but do not skip the scrub: this step alone lowers rabies risk. Pat dry, apply an antiseptic like povidone-iodine if you have it, and cover loosely with a clean cloth or bandage. Do not suck on the wound or rub on a home remedy like turmeric or coffee grounds, which some people still do here and which only raises infection risk.

Bali is not rabies-free, unlike some other parts of Indonesia, and both stray dogs and the monkeys that hang around temples and forest reserves can carry and pass on the virus through a bite, scratch, or even a lick on broken skin. Because rabies is almost always fatal once symptoms start, doctors here treat any animal bite as a possible exposure until proven otherwise, especially if the animal was acting strange, unprovoked, or could not be watched afterward. This is why the follow-up treatment matters more than how bad the wound looks: a shallow scratch from an infected animal carries the same risk as a deep bite.

Bring your child to a clinic or hospital the same day, ideally one used to treating tourists and expats, and tell the staff exactly where and how the bite happened. They will assess the wound, may give a tetanus booster, and will very likely start a rabies vaccine series, sometimes with an added immunoglobulin injection depending on the wound's severity and location. If your child already has pre-exposure rabies vaccination on record, mention it, since it changes the follow-up schedule. Whatever happens, do not wait it out at home: talk to a doctor the same day and follow through on every scheduled follow-up dose.