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Bali & Lombok — Health risks
The illnesses, bites and stings that matter in Bali and Lombok, from dengue and rabies to Bali belly and the sea: what is happening now, what is different for children and babies, how to avoid each and when to go to hospital. Checked against official and medical sources in October 2026.
Mosquitoes
Dengue
Dengue occurs in Bali all year and on Lombok too: avoid daytime bites, give only paracetamol for a fever, and go to the emergency department at once with any warning sign.
In Bali now
Bali's health office (Dinkes Bali) counted 10,391 dengue cases and 14 deaths in 2025 (Antara, January 2026); a later statement gives 13 deaths. From January to July 2026 it counted 1,588 cases and 2 deaths, against 9,116 cases in the same months of 2025 (Antara, August 2026). These are confirmed cases. The health ministry's surveillance, which counts suspected cases, recorded 10,525 in Bali and 5,755 in West Nusa Tenggara, Lombok's province, from January to mid-September 2026 (ministry report, October 2026). The two counts are made differently, so the low confirmed count does not mean dengue has gone. On Lombok, Mataram counted 479 cases from January to August 2025. Dinkes Bali says dengue occurs all year and rises and falls with the weather; the 2025 peak was in February, in the rainy season.
Children and babies
A small child cannot say how they feel or when the fever began. After a toddler died of dengue in Buleleng in April 2026, Bali's health office asked parents to take any child with a fever to a clinic straight away (Antara, August 2026). A baby under 3 months with a temperature of 38°C or more, or aged 3 to 6 months with 39°C or more, needs a doctor at once, whatever the cause (NHS). A baby under 1 with suspected dengue should see a doctor the same day. The vaccine is not licensed under 4, so babies and toddlers are protected only by avoiding bites. Give no paracetamol under 2 months unless a doctor says so (NHS), no ibuprofen until a doctor has ruled out dengue, and never aspirin. The syrup Proris is ibuprofen. Sanmol is paracetamol: drops are 60 mg per 0.6 ml, syrup 120 mg per 5 ml and Forte, for age 9 and over, 250 mg per 5 ml, so use the measure that comes with each.
How to avoid it
The dengue mosquito bites mainly in daylight, so use repellent and covering clothes all day (see Avoiding bites), and every week empty, cover or turn over anything around the villa that holds water. A vaccine, Qdenga, is 2 injections 3 months apart, and both are needed, so start at least 3 months before travel. Indonesia licenses it from 4 to 60 years, whether or not you have had dengue. It is a live vaccine: not in pregnancy, while breastfeeding or with weakened immunity, and avoid pregnancy for 1 month after it. Advice differs by country. The UK considers it from age 4 for people who have probably had dengue before, and for others only after expert advice. Australia's vaccine advisers recommend it from age 4 for people with past dengue and for long or repeated stays. The US has no dengue vaccine, so an American who has a first dose in Bali could not get the second at home.
Go to hospital at once if
About 1 in 20 people who fall ill develop severe dengue, with shock or internal bleeding (CDC). Go to the emergency department (IGD) at once for belly pain or tenderness, vomiting 3 or more times in 24 hours, bleeding from the nose or gums, blood in vomit or stool, or feeling extremely tired or restless (CDC), and for fast breathing, being very thirsty, pale and cold skin or weakness (WHO). Go too for drowsiness or irritability, or no pee (a dry nappy) for 4 to 6 hours (CDC; WHO South-East Asia). These signs usually start 24 to 48 hours after the fever goes away, just as the person seems to be getting better, and severe dengue can develop within hours. A pregnant woman with suspected dengue should go to hospital: CDC recommends hospital care in pregnancy, and dengue in pregnancy can lead to preterm birth and low birth weight (WHO).
What to do
There is no specific medicine for dengue. See a doctor: a blood test confirms it, and community health centres (puskesmas) have rapid tests. Rest and drink plenty of water or drinks with electrolytes. For fever and pain take paracetamol (acetaminophen in the US) only. Do not take ibuprofen, aspirin, mefenamic acid (asam mefenamat, Ponstan) or other anti-inflammatory painkillers: they raise the risk of bleeding. Keep the sick person under a net and on repellent: in the first week mosquitoes can pick up the virus from them. CDC advises everyone in the household to use repellent for 3 weeks. Watch closely for the warning signs as the fever falls. A second dengue infection carries a higher risk of severe dengue (WHO), so before a later trip ask a travel clinic or your doctor about the vaccine, which the UK offers mainly to people who have had dengue, a year after a confirmed infection.
Sources: Antara, January 2026 · Antara, August 2026 · Health ministry report, October 2026 · CDC: dengue symptoms · UKHSA TravelHealthPro: Indonesia · NHS: fever in children · CDC: clinical care of dengue
Zika
Since 7 August 2026 the US CDC has advised pregnant women not to travel to Bali after Zika cases in returning travellers; Bali's health office reports no confirmed case.
In Bali now
On 7 August 2026 the US CDC issued a Level 2 travel notice for Bali, saying Zika cases were being reported in travellers returning from the island; it was still in place in October. ECDC counted 11 laboratory-confirmed travel-related cases in France linked to Indonesia between July 2025 and March 2026, most after travel to Bali and neighbouring islands, and 1 in Germany in 2026 (ECDC, April 2026). It rates the chance of infection for travellers as low, with transmission in Bali intensified but limited. UKHSA counted 4 UK cases linked to Indonesia in 2026, as of July. Bali's health office (Antara, August 2026) and the health ministry (August 2026) say their surveillance has found no confirmed case in Bali. Lombok and the Gilis are not named in the CDC notice, and no Lombok data were found.
Children and babies
The main danger is to unborn babies: Zika in pregnancy can cause microcephaly and other birth defects. In babies and children it is generally mild, and hospital stays and deaths are uncommon (CDC). There is no vaccine, so protect them from daytime bites with nets over prams and cots, covering clothes and a repellent suited to their age (see Avoiding bites). Mothers are encouraged to keep breastfeeding even after possible exposure (CDC).
How to avoid it
Zika is spread mainly by the same daytime-biting mosquitoes as dengue, so avoid bites all day; it also passes through sex and from a pregnant woman to her baby. CDC says pregnant women should avoid travel to Bali, and if the trip cannot be avoided, follow bite and sex precautions strictly; UKHSA advises discussing the trip with a health professional first. After the trip, use condoms or avoid sex for at least 3 months if a man travelled and 2 months if only a woman did, counted from return, symptoms or diagnosis (CDC; UKHSA); if she is pregnant, for the whole pregnancy (UKHSA). Avoid becoming pregnant during the trip and for 2 months after it, or 3 months if a man travelled; couples planning a pregnancy soon, including in fertility treatment, should consider whether to travel at all (UKHSA). CDC asks returning travellers to keep avoiding bites for 3 weeks, even if they feel well.
Go to hospital at once if
CDC advises seeking medical care at once for fever, rash, headache, joint or muscle pain, or red eyes during or after travel: Zika is usually mild, but the same symptoms can be dengue. Go to the emergency department for any dengue warning sign, such as belly pain, repeated vomiting or bleeding (see Dengue), or for new muscle weakness, because Guillain-Barré syndrome is a rare complication of Zika. A woman who was pregnant during the trip, or became pregnant within 2 months after it, should contact her doctor, obstetrician or midwife even if she has been well (UKHSA).
What to do
Many people have no symptoms. Others have fever, rash, headache, joint and muscle pain, red eyes and tiredness for several days to a week (CDC); Bali's health office gives 3 to 14 days from bite to symptoms. There is no specific medicine. Rest, drink fluids and take paracetamol for fever and pain, but no aspirin, ibuprofen or other anti-inflammatory painkillers until dengue has been ruled out (CDC). Stay under a net and on repellent while ill, so that local mosquitoes do not pick up the virus.
Sources: CDC: Zika in Indonesia · CDC: Zika and sex · ECDC, April 2026 · UKHSA TravelHealthPro: Indonesia · Antara, August 2026 · GOV.UK: Zika and sex
Chikungunya
Chikungunya is present in Bali and across Indonesia; it is rarely fatal but can cause joint pain that lasts for months, so avoid daytime bites.
In Bali now
CDC rates the chikungunya risk in Indonesia as elevated (Indonesia page, August 2026). Across Indonesia, 3,608 confirmed cases were reported in 19 provinces from January to July 2025, against 1,399 a year earlier (WHO via UKHSA, October 2025). The health ministry's surveillance counted 298 suspected cases in Bali from January to mid-September 2026, and 3 in West Nusa Tenggara, Lombok's province (ministry report, October 2026). Its weekly event reports listed a cluster of 6 cases in Bali, with no deaths, in September and again in November 2025. The virus is spread by the same daytime-biting mosquitoes as dengue and causes sudden high fever and severe joint pain. Most people feel better within 1 to 2 weeks, but the joint pain can last months or years. Death is rare (CDC).
Children and babies
Newborns infected around the time of birth are at risk of more severe illness, as are adults aged 65 and over and people with high blood pressure, diabetes or heart disease (CDC). The vaccine is for age 12 and over, so younger children are protected only by avoiding bites (see Avoiding bites). For a child's fever give paracetamol, not ibuprofen or aspirin, until a doctor has ruled out dengue (CDC); see Dengue for which local syrups are which.
How to avoid it
Avoid bites from sunrise to sunset, especially at dawn and dusk (UKHSA), and empty anything around the villa that holds water (see Avoiding bites). A vaccine, Vimkunya, is a single dose for age 12 and over, and it is not live. CDC recommends it for travel to a place with an outbreak and says it may be considered for long stays in Indonesia, for example 6 months or more. UKHSA says it may be considered for travel to a current outbreak and for long-term or frequent travellers to higher-risk areas. In pregnancy, vaccination should generally wait until after delivery unless the risk is high (CDC). The other vaccine, Ixchiq, had its US licence suspended in August 2025 and, after safety reports, lost its UK licence in October 2026. Ask a travel clinic or your doctor.
Go to hospital at once if
Early on, chikungunya cannot be told apart from dengue without a test, and CDC tells doctors to manage it as dengue until dengue is ruled out. Go to the emergency department for any dengue warning sign, such as belly pain, repeated vomiting, bleeding, extreme tiredness or restlessness, fast breathing, or pale and cold skin (see Dengue). Go also for a newborn with a fever, or for an older person or someone with heart disease or diabetes who is getting worse.
What to do
Symptoms start 3 to 7 days after the bite (CDC; UKHSA gives 4 to 8 days): sudden high fever and severe joint pain, often with swollen joints, muscle pain, headache, rash and sensitivity to light. There is no specific medicine. Rest, drink fluids and take paracetamol for fever and pain. UKHSA lists ibuprofen or paracetamol for chikungunya, but in Bali, where dengue is common, use paracetamol only until a doctor has ruled out dengue, because aspirin and other anti-inflammatory painkillers raise the risk of bleeding in dengue (CDC). Avoid mosquito bites while ill.
Sources: CDC Travelers' Health: Indonesia · UKHSA TravelHealthPro: chikungunya · CDC: chikungunya vaccines · CDC: chikungunya symptoms · Health ministry report, October 2026
Japanese encephalitis
Japanese encephalitis is present in Bali and across Indonesia; the risk for most short stays is very low, but ask about the vaccine for long or rural stays.
In Bali now
Japanese encephalitis (JE) has long been present in Bali. Before vaccination, a 2001 to 2003 survey estimated 7.1 cases a year per 100,000 children under 12 (2021 scientific review). In April 2018 Bali ran a JE vaccination campaign for children, and the vaccine then became part of routine immunisation for babies in Bali, at 10 months according to the health ministry (November 2018); other sources give 9 months. Cases have been reported in international travellers infected in Bali, some fatal; a Queensland man was in intensive care in December 2019. No traveller case from 2024 to 2026 was found. UKHSA says JE occurs throughout Indonesia, so on Lombok and the Gilis too, all year, with peaks in and after the rainy season, and puts the risk to travellers in Asia at under 1 case per million.
Children and babies
Children are affected: the confirmed cases in the Bali survey were in children under 15 (2021 review). Visiting babies can be vaccinated from 2 months with Ixiaro: 2 half doses (0.25 ml) 28 days apart under 3 years, and full doses from 3 years (UKHSA). The faster schedule, with doses 7 days apart, is licensed only for adults aged 18 to 65, but UKHSA says it can be considered off-licence for children from 2 months when time is short. The course must be finished at least a week before the trip, so start about 5 weeks ahead. JE mosquitoes bite from dusk to dawn, so put nets over cots and prams in the evening and at night.
How to avoid it
JE is spread by Culex mosquitoes, which bite mostly from dusk to dawn and breed in rice fields and irrigated land, so avoid bites in the evening and at night (see Avoiding bites). CDC and the Australian Immunisation Handbook recommend the vaccine for stays of 1 month or more, for people moving there and for frequent travellers; UKHSA says it can be considered for them. It should be considered for shorter trips with more risk: rural areas, rice fields or pig farms, hiking or camping, the wet season, rooms without air-conditioning, screens or nets, or an uncertain plan. CDC does not recommend it for short trips to towns only. Ixiaro is 2 doses 28 days apart (7 days apart for adults aged 18 to 65), finished at least a week before travel. It is sold in only a few Asian countries, so finish the course at home. If the risk continues, UKHSA advises a booster after 12 to 24 months.
Go to hospital at once if
Most infections cause no or mild symptoms, but in a few people the virus inflames the brain; about 1 in 4 of them die (CDC), and survivors often have lasting damage (UKHSA). Go to the emergency department at once for fever with a severe headache, confusion or unusual drowsiness, a fit, new weakness or reduced consciousness, and in a baby also unusual floppiness or irritability. This applies during the trip and after returning, especially after time in rural or rice-field areas.
What to do
Brain inflammation shows as headache, fever, disorientation or confusion, fits, weakness and coma (CDC; UKHSA). There is no medicine for the virus itself. Treatment is supportive and usually needs a hospital stay for close observation (CDC), so do not wait at the villa to see whether it improves. Tell the doctors where you travelled, including any rice fields or rural areas. For advice on the vaccine for your own trip, ask a travel clinic or your doctor.
Sources: CDC Travelers' Health: Indonesia · UKHSA TravelHealthPro: JE · CDC: Japanese encephalitis · Health ministry, November 2018 · Review: JE in Bali, 2021
Malaria
Bali and the Gili Islands have no malaria transmission, so no tablets are needed there; for rural Lombok, CDC advises tablets but UKHSA does not normally.
In Bali now
The health ministry lists Bali among the 7 Indonesian provinces officially free of malaria transmission (April 2026); Nusa Penida and Nusa Lembongan are part of Bali province. CDC says there is no transmission in Ubud, the resort areas of Bali or the Gili Islands. For rural Lombok the advice differs: CDC lists rural West Nusa Tenggara, including Lombok, as a transmission area where it recommends preventive tablets, while UKHSA rates Lombok as low risk and advises bite avoidance without tablets for most travellers. Ministry surveillance counted 62 confirmed cases in West Nusa Tenggara and 36 in Bali from January to mid-September 2026, without saying where they were caught (ministry report, October 2026). Nationally, 95% of Indonesia's 706,297 cases in 2025 were in Papua.
Children and babies
Infants and young children are at higher risk of severe malaria (UKHSA). No tablets are needed for Bali or the Gilis. If tablets are prescribed for rural Lombok, a child's dose is set by body weight, and some medicines are unsuitable for children: UKHSA gives doxycycline only to children over 12. Protect children in the evening and at night with nets and screens (see Avoiding bites).
How to avoid it
Malaria mosquitoes bite mainly between dusk and dawn, so use repellent in the evening and sleep under a net or in a screened or air-conditioned room. If you will stay in rural Lombok, ask a travel clinic or your doctor before the trip, because CDC and UKHSA advise differently. CDC's options are atovaquone-proguanil, doxycycline, mefloquine or tafenoquine. UKHSA says tablets may be considered in low-risk areas after an individual assessment for some groups, such as pregnant women, infants and young children, people over 70 and people with weakened immunity, and it advises people without a working spleen against travel to any malaria area. If tablets are prescribed, keep taking them for the full time after leaving the risk area.
Go to hospital at once if
Seek medical care at once for a fever of 38°C or higher that starts a week or more after arriving in a malaria risk area, or for any symptoms of malaria up to a year after return, and say where you travelled (UKHSA). Go to the emergency department for confusion, a fit, drowsiness, difficulty breathing, or a child who is very unwell.
What to do
Malaria starts with fever and a flu-like illness, chills, headache, aches, tiredness, nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea; untreated, it can cause kidney failure, fits, coma and death (CDC). Symptoms usually start 7 to 30 days after the bite but can appear a year or more later. It needs a blood test the same day and prescribed treatment. After a trip to Bali only, dengue is a far more likely cause of fever than malaria, so treat a fever as possible dengue too (see Dengue).
Sources: Health ministry, April 2026 · CDC Travelers' Health: Indonesia · UKHSA TravelHealthPro: Indonesia · CDC: malaria symptoms · Health ministry report, October 2026
Avoiding bites
Use repellent suited to each person's age, covering clothes and nets: dengue, Zika and chikungunya mosquitoes bite by day, Japanese encephalitis and malaria ones after dark.
In Bali now
Dengue occurs in Bali all year, CDC has had a Zika notice for Bali since 7 August 2026, and Japanese encephalitis is present in rice-field areas, so bite prevention matters in every month. The mosquitoes that carry dengue, Zika and chikungunya bite mainly in the daytime, from sunrise to sunset and especially at dawn and dusk; those that carry Japanese encephalitis and malaria bite mostly from dusk to dawn (UKHSA). Bali's health office advises repellent lotions and sprays, nets and electric plug-in repellents, and emptying standing water.
Children and babies
Age rules differ between countries, so follow the label and your own doctor's advice. UKHSA does not recommend DEET under 2 months, and most repellents are not for young babies: protect them with covering clothes and insecticide-treated nets draped over cots and prams, secured at the edges. From 2 months UKHSA allows DEET up to 50%; the American Academy of Pediatrics advises using it sparingly until age 2. Oil of lemon eucalyptus and PMD are not for children under 3 (CDC). Western Australia's health department is stricter: no DEET, picaridin or lemon eucalyptus under 12 months, and up to 10% from 12 months. Put repellent on your own hands, then on the child, never on their hands, eyes, mouth, cuts or irritated skin, or under clothing. Do not let children handle it, wash it off back indoors, and avoid sunscreen-and-repellent combinations for children.
How to avoid it
Choose a repellent with DEET, picaridin (icaridin), IR3535, oil of lemon eucalyptus or PMD; CDC says these are safe in pregnancy and breastfeeding when used as directed. UKHSA advises DEET at 50%, with no longer protection above that, or picaridin at 20% or more. IR3535 and lemon eucalyptus protect for less time, so reapply them more often, and reapply any repellent after swimming or sweating. Put sunscreen on first and repellent second, with SPF 30 to 50, because DEET lowers sunscreen protection. When breastfeeding, wash DEET off your hands and breast skin before handling the baby (UKHSA). DEET can damage plastics and synthetic fabrics. Wristbands, patches, stickers, ultrasonic devices and natural repellents are unproven or work only briefly.
Clothes, rooms and nets
Wear loose long sleeves and long trousers, ideally treated with 0.5% permethrin or bought pre-treated; permethrin never goes on skin (CDC; UKHSA). Choose rooms with screened windows or air-conditioning. Where a room has neither, sleep under a long-lasting insecticide-treated net with mesh no larger than 1.5 mm, tucked in and without holes, and check the room for mosquitoes after the door has been open (UKHSA). Put a net over a baby sleeping in the daytime and over prams and carriers. Plug-in vaporisers can be used indoors, but burn mosquito coils only outdoors (UKHSA), and avoid repellent candles if a child has breathing problems. Every week, empty, scrub, cover or throw out anything around the villa that holds water, such as buckets, flowerpot saucers and toys.
What to do
If repellent gets in the eyes, rinse them with plenty of water: UKHSA warns that IR3535 and lemon eucalyptus (PMD) products can damage the eyes. Wash repellent off with soap and water when it is no longer needed. If a child swallows repellent, do not make them vomit: see a doctor straight away, even if they seem well, and take the bottle with you (MedlinePlus). Go to the emergency department at once for a fit, drowsiness, swelling of the face or lips or difficulty breathing after using or swallowing a repellent. For a fever after bites, see the warning signs under Dengue.
Sources: UKHSA TravelHealthPro: bite avoidance · CDC: preventing mosquito bites · AAP: insect repellents for children · HealthyWA: insect repellent · WHO: dengue · MedlinePlus: bug spray poisoning
Animals
Rabies
Rabies is present across Bali: wash any bite, nip or scratch, even if it does not bleed, or a lick on broken skin, with soap under running water for 15 minutes and get rabies vaccine the same day.
In Bali now
Bali's health office counted 16 rabies deaths in 2025, up from 7 in 2024, and said 99% of those who died had never gone to a health facility (Antara, January 2026). From January to August 2026 it counted 45,365 animal bites and 7 deaths (Antara, August 2026). Of Buleleng's 3 rabies deaths in 2026 up to 12 October, 2 people never reported their bite and 1 did not finish the vaccine (detikBali, October 2026). Rabid animals were confirmed in 2026 in Badung (20 dogs by May, most in South Kuta: Jimbaran, Nusa Dua, Uluwatu), Jembrana (33 dogs by June) and Buleleng. In Jembrana a woman bitten by a stray cat, who only washed the wound at home, died of suspected rabies in May 2026 (detikBali, June 2026). About half of Bali's dogs had been vaccinated by July 2026. East Lombok reported no rabies cases up to April 2026 but still vaccinates bitten people; no statement covers Lombok as a whole.
Children and babies
Worldwide, about 40% of rabies deaths are children under 15 (WHO). Children are less likely to avoid animals or to tell anyone about a bite, scratch or lick, and are often bitten on the face or head, which is higher risk (UKHSA). Ask them every day whether any animal licked, scratched or nipped them, including puppies, kittens and villa or resort pets, and teach them not to touch any dog, cat or monkey. Keep them close: in April 2026 four stray dogs killed an 11-year-old boy flying a kite in rice fields in East Lombok, and whether they had rabies is not known. UKHSA sets no minimum age for pre-exposure vaccine: ask a travel clinic or your doctor. After a bite, children get the same vaccine doses as adults, immunoglobulin is dosed by weight, and WHO advises injecting children under 2 in the thigh.
How to avoid it
Do not touch or feed street dogs, villa or resort dogs, cats or monkeys, and do not run from dogs. A pre-exposure vaccine course before travel is 2 doses on days 0 and 7 (WHO, CDC), or in the UK 3 doses on days 0, 7 and 21 or 28, or days 0, 3 and 7 plus a dose at 1 year when departure is less than 4 weeks away (UKHSA, July 2026). Start at least a week before travel for 2 doses, or 3 to 4 weeks before for 3. UKHSA advises it for stays over a month, limited access to care, running or cycling, and work with animals. It does not replace treatment after a bite, but cuts it to 2 doses with no immunoglobulin, which can be hard to find. Carry your vaccine record, keep tetanus up to date and have travel insurance: a private Ubud clinic's bill for a monkey bite in 2025 had to be paid up front.
Go to hospital at once if
Go the same day, after washing, for any bite, nip or scratch on bare skin, even a graze that does not bleed (WHO), any lick on broken skin or in the eyes, mouth or nose, or any contact with a bat, even if the animal looks healthy or is a pet, or you were vaccinated before. Cats count as much as dogs. Start treatment in Bali, not at home (UKHSA). Government rabies centres at puskesmas health centres and hospitals treat bites; in Denpasar every district puskesmas and RSUD Wangaya give wound care, vaccine and immunoglobulin, and BIMC Kuta, a private hospital, says it keeps both. Bites on the head, neck, face, hands or genitals, and deep or many bites, need a place that can give immunoglobulin at once. Stock is never guaranteed, so call ahead, but never delay the vaccine for it. Weeks or months later, fever, tingling at the old wound, confusion or fear of water is an emergency.
What to do
Wash the wound at once with soap under running water for at least 15 minutes, apply povidone-iodine or 70% alcohol if you have it, cover it loosely and go for treatment. Do not wait to see if the animal falls ill, and use no traditional remedies. If never vaccinated, you need vaccine on days 0, 3, 7 and 14 (CDC), or 2 doses on day 0 and 1 each on days 7 and 21 in Indonesia's public clinics. WHO and CDC add immunoglobulin, once, into and around the wound, up to day 7, for every bite or scratch through the skin. Indonesia's public clinics give it mainly for head, neck, hand, genital or deep wounds, and may put off the vaccine if an owned, healthy, vaccinated animal can be watched by officials for 14 days; WHO and CDC advise starting at once, so ask for both. If vaccinated before: 2 doses, on days 0 and 3. Finish every dose, record the brand and dates, and ask about antibiotics and tetanus.
Sources: WHO: rabies · CDC Yellow Book: rabies · UKHSA TravelHealthPro: rabies · Indonesian health ministry, March 2025 · Antara, August 2026
Monkey bites
Treat any monkey bite, nip or scratch on bare skin as a rabies risk, even if it does not bleed: wash it for 15 minutes, get rabies treatment the same day and ask about herpes B tablets.
In Bali now
At Sangeh in Badung, monkeys scratched or bit visitors 11 times in June 2026 and 29 times from 1 to 25 July; bites are vaccinated at Puskesmas Abiansemal, while scratches without a wound get only alcohol and antiseptic (detikBali, August 2026). Only 27 of Bali's monkeys had been vaccinated against rabies by July 2026 (Antara). Rabies in monkeys is rare, and Ubud Monkey Forest says none has been found there (2023), but a wild monkey cannot be watched afterwards, so CDC generally recommends treatment after a bite. In a study published in 2002, 31 of 38 Sangeh macaques sampled (82%) carried herpes B antibodies. Human infection is extremely rare but can cause fatal inflammation of the brain and spinal cord (CDC); the 2002 study knew of no human case from Bali.
Children and babies
Monkeys go for snacks and toys, and a monkey on an adult's shoulder is at a child's face and neck height. In September 2025 a 12-year-old was bitten on the neck at Ubud Monkey Forest; staff reportedly only washed the wound, and a private clinic then gave immunoglobulin, rabies vaccine and two weeks of herpes B tablets. In October 2026 a monkey bit a 9-year-old at a school in Wanagiri, Buleleng. CDC says children are more likely to be bitten and to be hurt more badly. Hold children's hands, never let them carry food at monkey sites, and think hard before taking toddlers to a monkey forest. Children's rabies doses are covered under Rabies.
How to avoid it
Do not feed, touch or tease monkeys, and follow staff instructions. Keep food, drinks and plastic bags out of sight, and secure glasses, hats, phones and earrings. If a monkey grabs something, let it go. Rabies vaccination before travel means that after a bite you need only 2 vaccine doses and no immunoglobulin (see Rabies).
Go to hospital at once if
Any monkey bite, nip or scratch on bare skin, even one that does not bleed, or monkey saliva in the eyes, nose or mouth, needs a clinic or hospital the same day for rabies treatment and a herpes B assessment, even if staff at the site say a scratch needs only antiseptic: WHO counts nibbles and minor scratches without bleeding as exposures that need vaccine. In the days or weeks after a monkey contact, blisters, pain, itching or numbness at the wound, fever and chills, headache, weakness, poor coordination, confusion or breathing problems are an emergency.
What to do
Wash the wound with soap under running water for at least 15 minutes (WHO, CDC); CDC's Yellow Book advises 20 minutes or more for any animal bite. Ubud Monkey Forest's own advice of about 5 minutes is shorter than this. Rinse saliva out of the eyes with water or saline for 15 minutes. Then get rabies treatment: if you were never vaccinated, any wound through the skin needs immunoglobulin as well as vaccine. CDC says an antiviral, valaciclovir, may be needed to prevent herpes B after a wound through the skin or saliva in the eyes or mouth, and that starting it early matters. Ask about antibiotics and a tetanus booster. Do not accept that the monkeys are clean as a reason to skip treatment.
Sources: CDC: herpes B virus · CDC Yellow Book: animal bites · CDC Yellow Book: rabies · WHO: rabies · Emerging Infectious Diseases, 2002
Snakes
Bali has cobras, kraits and green pit vipers: after any bite keep the person still, splint the limb, never cut or suck the bite or put on a tourniquet, and get to hospital fast.
In Bali now
Venomous snakes on Bali include the Javan spitting cobra, the Sunda king cobra, the Malayan krait, the banded krait and the white-lipped island pit viper (green pit viper). The spitting cobra and the island pit viper also live on Lombok. Banded sea kraits are common on Bali's reefs. In Tabanan a reptile charity rescued 18 king cobras from homes, villa areas and gardens from June to September 2026, and says September to December is their busiest season (detikBali, September 2026). Indonesia recorded 9,878 snakebites and 54 deaths in 2024 (Indonesian Toxinology Society via UGM, May 2026). No snakebite deaths in Bali in 2025 or 2026 were found. Indonesia's own antivenom covers the spitting cobra and banded krait but not the Malayan krait, green pit vipers or king cobra, and which Bali hospitals hold imported antivenom is not known.
Children and babies
WHO says children often suffer more severe effects because of their smaller body mass. Kraits hunt at night, come into houses and may bite people sleeping on or near the floor almost painlessly. Children in ground-floor rooms or on floor mattresses should sleep under a well-tucked mosquito net, ideally on a raised bed (WHO). Use a torch and shoes in villa gardens and on rice-field paths after dark. First aid is the same for children.
How to avoid it
Never handle, corner or try to kill a snake: call the staff or a snake rescue service such as Bali Reptile Rescue, which says it works around the clock. Wear shoes or boots and carry a torch at night (WHO). Keep rubbish and undergrowth cleared near the house. Do not touch sea snakes, even ones caught in nets.
Go to hospital at once if
Every suspected snakebite needs hospital now, even without pain or fang marks: a krait bite may not hurt, and paralysis can start hours later. Go by ambulance if possible, keeping the person still. Warning signs are pain and swelling spreading up the limb, bruising, bleeding from the gums or nose or in the urine, drooping eyelids, double or blurred vision, slurred speech, trouble swallowing or breathing, weakness, vomiting, belly pain and collapse. Start CPR if the person is unresponsive and not breathing normally.
What to do
Reassure the person, lay them down, ideally on the left side, and keep the whole body and the bitten limb still with a splint or sling (WHO). In Bali a cobra or krait bite can rarely be ruled out, so WHO advises a pressure pad over the bite or, if you have the bandage and the skill, a firm broad elastic bandage over the bite and then up the whole limb from the fingers or toes, left on until hospital (ANZCOR). Do not cut, suck, rub or scrub the bite, put on herbs, chemicals or ice, or tie a tight tourniquet; if one is already on, leave it until antivenom has started in hospital. Take a photo of the snake only if it is safe. Venom spat into the eyes: rinse at once with plenty of water. After a sea snake bite, get the person out of the water and treat it as a land snake bite.
Sources: WHO: snakebite guidelines, South-East Asia · WHO: snakebite envenoming · ANZCOR: pressure immobilisation · UGM, May 2026 · detikBali, September 2026
In the sea
Jellyfish and bluebottles
For a bluebottle sting, pick off the tentacles, rinse with seawater and soak in hot water without vinegar; for an unknown tropical jellyfish, use vinegar, then a cold pack, not hot water.
In Bali now
Bluebottles washed onto Segara Ayu beach in Sanur on 27 and 28 July 2026. Lifeguards (Balawista) collected and buried them, stepped up patrols as far as Semawang, and no stings were reported (detikBali, July 2026). Denpasar's disaster agency says they arrive most years from July to September, blown in by strong winds. They can still sting when stranded or dead. No official season was found for the west coast from Kuta to Canggu, for Nusa Dua or for Lombok. Box jellyfish, which can kill in the tropical Indo-Pacific, are known in Bali only from two unverified citizen-science photos, both in West Bali National Park, and no serious box jellyfish sting in Bali was found.
Children and babies
The first aid below applies to children and babies too (ANZCOR). Before a hot-water soak for a bluebottle, test the water on your own skin: it should be hot but must not burn, and small children may not say it is too hot. Stranded bluebottles look like small blue balloons: keep children from touching them and have them wear footwear on the beach (Balawista).
How to avoid it
Follow the lifeguards' flags and warnings. Do not swim when bluebottles are on the beach, wear footwear on the sand and do not touch stranded jellyfish, even dead ones (detikBali, July 2026). A rash vest or wetsuit reduces the skin exposed to stings (NHS).
Go to hospital at once if
Call for emergency help for difficulty breathing, chest pain, collapse, confusion, fits, vomiting, severe or spreading pain, swelling of the face or lips or a wheeze, a sting covering half a limb or more, or a sting on the eye or another sensitive area (ANZCOR). Ladder-like or whip-like marks suggest a box jellyfish. Back, chest or belly pain, sweating, nausea or restlessness 5 to 40 minutes after a minor-looking sting can be Irukandji syndrome. Start CPR if the person is unresponsive and not breathing normally. The NHS advises getting medical help after any sea creature sting in a tropical country.
What to do
Get out of the water, rest and do not rub the sting. For a clearly identified bluebottle with a local sting in a person who is well, use no vinegar: pick off the tentacles, which is safe for the rescuer, rinse with seawater, then soak in hot water at 43 to 45 °C for up to 30 minutes, or use a cold pack if heat does not help (ANZCOR). For an unknown jellyfish in tropical water, where a dangerous species cannot be ruled out, douse the area with vinegar for 30 seconds and pick off the tentacles, or with no vinegar pick them off and rinse with seawater; then ease the pain with a cold pack or ice in a dry plastic bag, not hot water (ANZCOR). Call an ambulance if there is more than one local sting or the person feels unwell, and watch them for 30 to 40 minutes. Paracetamol or ibuprofen ease the pain (NHS). Do not urinate on the sting, rub it with sand, or rinse it with fresh water or alcohol.
Sources: ANZCOR: marine stings · NHS: sea creature stings · MSD Manual: jellyfish stings · detikBali, July 2026
Sea urchins, stonefish and other stings
Wear reef shoes and never touch fish, shells or octopuses: soak spine stings in hot water, and treat cone snail stings and blue-ringed octopus bites as emergencies.
In Bali now
Long-spined sea urchins are common on Bali's shallow reef flats and seagrass: a Udayana University survey found 12 species, including the venomous flower urchin, at Sanur and Serangan (published 2015). Stonefish have been photographed at Tulamben dive sites. Citizen-science records show stonefish, lionfish, cone snails and blue-ringed octopuses around Bali, including the geographic cone, behind almost all recorded cone snail deaths, at Sidem, Karangasem in November 2025, and a blue-ringed octopus at Nusa Penida in August 2026. Stonefish and blue-ringed octopuses are also recorded on Lombok. No stings in Bali or Lombok were found in 2025 or 2026 reports. There is no antivenom for cone snails or blue-ringed octopus, and whether any hospital in Bali or Lombok stocks stonefish antivenom is not known.
Children and babies
Children wade on reef flats and explore rock pools at low tide, where urchins, stinging fish and small blue-ringed octopuses live. Give them reef shoes and teach them never to touch fish or octopuses, pick up cone-shaped shells, put shells in their pockets or reach into holes. A 2016 review of cone snail stings found that children die from them more often than adults. Spines in a child's foot often need a doctor to remove them without breaking. Test hot water on your own skin before using it on a child (see Jellyfish and bluebottles). First aid is otherwise the same as for adults.
How to avoid it
Wear hard-soled reef shoes, do not walk on reef at low tide, and enter the water through sandy channels. In shallow sandy water shuffle your feet so stingrays move away (NHS). Do not touch, handle or stand on urchins, fish or octopuses, and leave all cone-shaped shells alone. Divers and snorkellers should keep good buoyancy and keep their hands off the bottom.
Go to hospital at once if
A cone snail sting or a blue-ringed octopus bite is an emergency even when painless: numb lips and mouth, weakness, blurred or double vision, slurred speech and trouble swallowing or breathing can lead to paralysis and breathing failure within about 30 minutes (ANZCOR). Go to hospital for every stonefish or stingray sting, a sting to the chest or belly, a barb stuck in the body, faintness, chest pain, breathing difficulty or pain that hot water does not ease. See a doctor soon for urchin spines in or near a joint, the face or an eye, many spines or ones that will not come out, spreading redness, red streaks or fever, or pain lasting more than 5 to 7 days.
What to do
Cone snail or blue-ringed octopus: call an ambulance, keep the person still, and put a firm broad bandage over the sting and then up the whole limb, with a splint. If they are unresponsive and not breathing normally, give rescue breaths or CPR until health professionals take over, which may be hours; keep talking to them, as they may hear you while paralysed (ANZCOR). Stonefish, scorpionfish, lionfish or stingray: call an ambulance, put the stung hand or foot in hot water no hotter than the rescuer can comfortably bear, leave a stuck barb in place and pad around it, and use no pressure bandage or ice (ANZCOR). Urchin spines: lift out visible spines with tweezers or the edge of a bank card without digging, soak in very warm water for at least 30 minutes and leave the wound open (NHS); vinegar soaks dissolve most surface spines (MSD). Take paracetamol for pain and ask about tetanus.
Sources: ANZCOR: marine stings · NHS: sea creature stings · MSD Manual: sea urchin stings · MSD Manual: mollusc stings · Cone snail review, 2016
Coral cuts and sea lice
Scrub coral cuts with soap and clean water straight away, keep them clean and covered, and see a doctor at once if redness spreads or a fever starts.
In Bali now
No Bali figures for infected reef wounds were found. Coral cuts and scrapes carry coral, debris and seawater bacteria such as Vibrio, often fester in the tropics, and can take weeks or months to heal (DAN, MSD). Fire coral also stings. Sea lice, an itchy rash from the larvae of tiny jellyfish or sea anemones trapped under swimwear, are described mainly from Florida and the Caribbean (Cleveland Clinic, May 2026). No health office report or season for them was found in Bali or Lombok; there are only anecdotal reports.
Children and babies
Children scrape knees and hands on reef while snorkelling or in rock pools. Clean every scrape the same day and check it daily. A child with a fever, or redness spreading from a wound, needs a doctor. Children often react more strongly to sea lice than adults (Cleveland Clinic): a child with a widespread rash and fever should see a doctor.
How to avoid it
Do not touch or stand on coral, and wear a rash vest and reef shoes. Keep open wounds out of the sea where you can: Vibrio infections follow open wounds coming into contact with coastal water (CDC). Keep tetanus vaccination up to date. For sea lice, leave the water at the first tingling, take your swimwear off, rinse with seawater and then shower, as fresh water can make trapped larvae sting, and wash swimwear before wearing it again.
Go to hospital at once if
See a doctor at once for fever, spreading redness or red streaks up the limb, severe pain or swelling, or blisters or skin discolouration around a wound, especially if you have diabetes, liver disease, cancer, HIV or weak immunity; CDC says do not wait. See a doctor soon for a wound that has not healed after 1 to 2 weeks or that grows red bumps or crusts. With sea lice, get emergency help for breathing difficulty or swelling of the face or lips.
What to do
Scrub the cut hard with soap and water and flush it with plenty of water, then flush with half-strength hydrogen peroxide and rinse again (DAN). Put on a thin layer of antiseptic ointment and a dry non-stick dressing, and change it daily. If signs of infection appear, see a doctor about antibiotics. For a fire coral sting, soak it in diluted vinegar; hot water can also ease it. For sea lice, use 1% hydrocortisone cream and an antihistamine tablet, and a cold pack wrapped in cloth for up to 15 minutes; try not to scratch. The rash usually settles within 2 weeks; a severe one needs a doctor.
Sources: DAN: coral scrapes and cuts · CDC: Vibrio · MSD Manual: marine bites and stings · Cleveland Clinic: sea lice
Food, water and drink
Bali belly
Bali belly usually passes in a few days; the real risk is losing fluid, so drink, use oral rehydration salts and see a doctor for blood in the stool, a high fever or a dehydrated child.
In Bali now
There is no figure for travellers. The health ministry's weekly surveillance report of October 2026 counted 65,200 reports of acute diarrhoea and 496 of bloody diarrhoea (dysentery) in Bali in 2026 up to week 38. West Nusa Tenggara (NTB), Lombok's province, had 73,131 and 1,889. These are suspected cases among residents reported by clinics, not laboratory-confirmed and not tourists. There were no suspected cholera cases in Bali and 9 in NTB. CDC puts Asia, apart from Japan and South Korea, among the highest-risk destinations, and GOV.UK says tap water in Indonesia is not safe to drink.
Children and babies
Babies and young children lose fluid faster, so start oral rehydration salts (ORS) early. Keep breastfeeding on demand. Make formula at its usual strength, never weaker, with boiled or bottled water. Offer usual food; limit sugary drinks. See a doctor the same day for any baby under 1 you are worried about, a child who stops feeding, a child under 5 with fewer wet nappies, a dry mouth, few tears, irritability or a sunken soft spot on the head, vomiting that will not stop, blood in the stool or a temperature of 38.5°C or more, and at once for a baby under 3 months with 38°C or more. A child who is very sleepy or hard to wake, floppy, or has cold hands and feet needs the emergency department at once (NHS). Give no medicine that stops diarrhoea unless a doctor says so: the NHS says not under 12, and CDC says never loperamide under 2. Doctors in Indonesia often add 10 days of zinc.
How to avoid it
Eat food that is freshly cooked and steaming hot. Skip buffet food that has sat out, raw salads, fresh salsas and fruit you did not peel yourself. Drink only from factory-sealed bottles or cans, and avoid ice and fountain drinks where the water may be unsafe. Brush your teeth with bottled water and do not swallow shower water. Wash your hands with soap before eating, or use a hand sanitiser with at least 60% alcohol. No vaccine prevents it, and CDC does not advise preventive antibiotics for most travellers. Pack ORS sachets. Ask a travel clinic or your doctor whether to carry a standby antibiotic: azithromycin is the usual choice for Southeast Asia.
Go to hospital at once if
Go to the emergency department straight away for vomiting blood or vomit that looks like coffee grounds, green vomit, a sudden severe tummy ache or headache, a stiff neck with pain when looking at light, confusion or not responding as usual, being very sleepy or hard to wake, cold skin, pale, blue, grey or blotchy skin, or severe difficulty breathing (NHS). See a doctor soon for blood in the stool, a high fever, vomiting that stops you keeping fluids down, signs of dehydration such as dizziness or very little dark pee, diarrhoea for more than 7 days or vomiting for more than 2. In Bali and Lombok, fever with diarrhoea can also be dengue or typhoid, and in rural Lombok malaria, so a fever needs a doctor.
What to do
Keep drinking. Mix ORS exactly as the packet says: Indonesian oralit sachets ('Oralit 200') are for 200 ml, one glass, of boiled or bottled water, while some imported or WHO-formula sachets are for 1 litre. Never make it stronger or add sugar. Adults with mild diarrhoea can drink any fluid, including sports drinks. Adults can take loperamide to ease symptoms, but not with bloody diarrhoea or a fever. Antibiotics are for severe illness or dysentery, from a doctor; CDC says germs in Southeast Asia often resist ciprofloxacin, and azithromycin is the first choice there. For discomfort take paracetamol; with a fever, avoid ibuprofen and aspirin until dengue is ruled out (see Dengue), and never give aspirin to under-16s. Stay out of pools until 48 hours after symptoms stop. If severe diarrhoea starts soon after you get home, see a doctor and ask for stool tests.
Sources: CDC Yellow Book: travellers' diarrhoea · CDC Yellow Book: travelling with children · CDC: food and water safety · NHS: diarrhoea and vomiting · Health ministry report, October 2026 · NHS: dehydration
Typhoid and hepatitis A
Typhoid and hepatitis A spread through contaminated food and water; CDC and UKHSA advise both vaccines for most travellers to Indonesia, and any fever needs a doctor, a child's at once.
In Bali now
The health ministry's weekly surveillance report of October 2026 counted 4,308 suspected typhoid reports in Bali and 24,500 in West Nusa Tenggara (NTB), Lombok's province, in 2026 up to week 38. Nationally, reports rose from week 33 to a peak in week 36. These are suspected cases among residents, often diagnosed without a culture, so they overstate true typhoid. The same report counted 404 reports of acute jaundice in Bali and 437 in NTB, which include hepatitis A but also other causes. Searches in October 2026 found no reported hepatitis A outbreak in Bali or Lombok in 2025 or 2026.
Children and babies
The typhoid injection is given from age 2. Oral typhoid capsules are from 5 in the UK and 6 in the US. UKHSA says children aged 12 to 24 months may be vaccinated off-licence if the risk is high, and typhoid vaccine is not given under 1. For hepatitis A, CDC advises one dose for babies aged 6 to 11 months, ideally at least 2 weeks before the trip, though a dose on the day of travel is acceptable. It does not count, so they still need the routine 2 doses from 12 months. UK hepatitis A vaccines start at 1 year. Below these ages, take extra care with food, water and hand hygiene. Young children often have hepatitis A without symptoms and pass it on. The NHS says children under 5 who had typhoid may need clear stool tests before going back to nursery.
How to avoid it
Typhoid injection: one dose at least 2 weeks before travel, with a booster after 2 years in the US or 3 years in the UK. Oral typhoid, a live vaccine, is a course of capsules on alternate days (3 in the UK; 4 in the US, finished at least 1 week before travel), with a booster after 3 years in the UK or 5 in the US. The vaccines protect only 50 to 80% of people and do not cover paratyphoid, so food and water care still matters. Hepatitis A: one dose before travel and a second 6 to 12 months later, which UKHSA expects to protect for at least 25 years. CDC advises the vaccine plus immune globulin for people over 40, immunocompromised or chronically ill who leave within 2 weeks. Follow the food, water and handwashing advice under Bali belly.
Go to hospital at once if
Go to the emergency department for a sudden tummy pain that keeps getting worse, black or dark red stools, or vomiting blood or vomit that looks like coffee grounds (NHS, typhoid). Treat confusion, extreme drowsiness or bleeding in someone with yellow skin or eyes as an emergency. See a doctor the same day for yellow skin or eyes, or dark urine with pale stools, during or after the trip. If you might have hepatitis A and you are pregnant, over 60 or have a liver condition, get urgent help (NHS).
What to do
Typhoid usually starts within 3 weeks, sometimes up to 6, and can begin after you are home: a temperature climbing over a few days to 39 to 40°C, headache, tiredness, aches, cough, and constipation or later diarrhoea. Hepatitis A shows 2 to 7 weeks after exposure: fever, tiredness, nausea, upper tummy pain, dark urine, pale stools and yellow skin or eyes. See a doctor for any fever, even if you were vaccinated, and say where you travelled. Typhoid needs antibiotics chosen after tests, as many strains resist some; finish the course. For typhoid fever take paracetamol, with no ibuprofen or aspirin until dengue is ruled out. Hepatitis A usually clears in 3 to 6 months: rest, drink fluids, avoid alcohol and ask a pharmacist which painkillers are safe for your liver. For about 7 days after symptoms start, stay away from others and cook for no one (NHS).
Sources: CDC: Indonesia · UKHSA TravelHealthPro: typhoid · UKHSA TravelHealthPro: hepatitis A · NHS: typhoid fever · Health ministry report, October 2026
Methanol in drinks
Drinks mixed with methanol have killed and blinded people in Bali, Lombok and the Gilis, so choose sealed, branded drinks and treat blurred vision after drinking as an emergency.
In Bali now
GOV.UK's Indonesia advice, updated in September 2026, warns of deaths and serious illness from methanol in alcoholic drinks. Cases include drinks bought in licensed bars, shops and hotels in tourist areas, and fake copies of well-known brands. It also reports drink spiking linked to sexual assault in Bali, Lombok and the Gili Islands. Most cases involve badly made or deliberately adulterated arak, a local spirit. In 2009 spiked arak killed 21 of 51 people examined at Sanglah hospital in Denpasar, two of them foreigners (Jakarta Post). A Canadian woman was blinded after a night at a Bali bar in 2011, and a 19-year-old Australian died after drinks at a Gili Trawangan bar on New Year's Eve 2012. No confirmed 2026 cluster in Bali or Lombok was found by October 2026.
Children and babies
This is a risk for teenagers and young adults on party trips more than for young children. Talk to teenagers before the trip about choosing sealed drinks, watching a drink being made and never leaving it unattended, and make sure they know the warning signs below and that a friend who is unwell after drinking needs a hospital, not sleep.
How to avoid it
Methanol is industrial alcohol. It cannot be tasted or smelled. About 30 ml, roughly a shot, can kill an adult, and 10 ml can blind (UK Travel Aware). Choose branded beer, cider, wine and premixed drinks in sealed bottles and cans. Take care with spirit-based drinks: cocktails, drinks on the rocks, buckets, jugs and shots. Avoid free or cheap cocktails and shots, unlabelled bottles, brand-name spirits at unusually low prices, and homemade or street alcohol, including arak sold outside licensed venues. Buying from licensed shops, bars and hotels lowers the risk but does not remove it. Watch your drink being made, never leave it unattended and do not accept drinks from strangers.
Go to hospital at once if
At first methanol feels like being drunk or a bad hangover, with vomiting, loss of balance and drowsiness. Then, 12 to 48 hours after drinking, come stomach pain, vertigo, fast or heavy breathing, breathlessness, blurred vision or blindness, fits and coma (UK Travel Aware). Go to the emergency department at once if you or a friend have any of these later signs, or a hangover that keeps getting worse. Eyesight problems are the key warning sign: blurring, pain in bright light, vision like TV static ('snowfield' vision) or tunnel vision. Do not wait to see if it gets better, and do not let anyone go to bed to sleep it off.
What to do
Call an ambulance or go straight to the emergency department (IGD); the emergency page lists the numbers that work in Bali and Lombok. Tell the staff you suspect methanol, and what and where you drank. Hospitals give an antidote (ethanol or fomepizole) and may use dialysis to remove the methanol. Treatment works best within 10 to 30 hours of drinking (UK Travel Aware). Which Bali or Lombok hospitals stock fomepizole is not confirmed. Contact your travel insurer early, because intensive care and medical evacuation are very expensive.
Sources: UK Travel Aware: methanol · GOV.UK: Indonesia safety · The Jakarta Post, June 2009 · CBC Radio, January 2025 · BIMC Hospital Bali
Other risks
Measles and polio
Indonesia had one of the world's largest measles epidemics in 2025, so everyone from 12 months needs two doses of MMR, and babies of 6 to 11 months can have an early dose.
In Bali now
Indonesia counted 63,769 suspected measles cases in 2025, 147% more than in 2024 and second in the world after Yemen (health ministry via Antara, March 2026). The ministry counts 67 deaths; the paediatricians' association IDAI counts 69. Cases peaked in the first week of 2026 and fell about 95% by week 11, but the ministry still counted 21,101 cases by 1 August 2026. Bali had 109 confirmed cases in 2025. By mid-March 2026, 90 suspected cases had been tested and none was positive (Bali health office via Antara), and Bali was not among the 11 provinces with outbreaks. No confirmed Bali figure after March was found; the ministry's surveillance counted 707 suspected reports in Bali to mid-September. Victoria's health department said in May 2026 that there were lots of cases in people returning from Bali. In NTB the early-2026 outbreak was on Sumbawa, not Lombok.
Children and babies
Babies under 12 months are most at risk. From 6 to 11 months, give one early MMR dose, at least 2 weeks before travel if possible, but even if the trip is sooner (CDC). UKHSA advises it from 6 months if the baby will mix with local people. The early dose does not count, so the routine doses follow as usual. From 12 months, children need two doses at least 28 days apart before travel. A child under 18 months whose second dose comes less than 3 months after the first still needs the routine 18-month dose (UKHSA). Under 6 months is too young: make sure everyone around the baby is immune, and avoid crowds and sick children. If a baby under 1 has been in contact with measles, get urgent medical advice. Keep routine polio doses on time.
How to avoid it
Everyone over 12 months should have two documented doses of MMR, or proof of immunity, ideally at least 2 weeks before departure. If you are unsure, CDC advises two doses at least 28 days apart. Australian adults born between 1966 and 1992 may not have had two documented doses. MMR is a live vaccine: if you are pregnant, planning a pregnancy or immunocompromised, ask a travel clinic or your doctor first. Polio: Indonesia's 2022 to 2024 vaccine-derived outbreak was declared over on 19 November 2025 (WHO), and Bali and NTB had no cases in it. Indonesia is not on CDC's polio list (September 2026), so routine polio vaccination is enough and adults need no extra booster for now. A UK tetanus booster also covers polio.
Go to hospital at once if
Go to the emergency department straight away if someone with measles has a fit, severe difficulty breathing (in babies, grunting or the tummy sucking in under the ribs), cannot stay awake, is suddenly confused, is limp, floppy or unresponsive, has a rash that does not fade when a glass is pressed on it, or has a stiff neck or finds light painful (NHS). Get urgent help if breathing is harder than usual, a baby is feeding poorly or peeing less, or a fever does not come down with paracetamol. With polio, not being able to move part of the body, a limb that feels stiff, floppy or numb, or difficulty breathing is an emergency. Call the clinic before you arrive so they can keep you apart from others.
What to do
Measles starts with a high temperature, a runny or blocked nose, sneezing, a cough and red, sore, watery eyes. A few days later a blotchy rash starts on the face and behind the ears and spreads down the body (NHS). A doctor should confirm it, because in Bali fever with a rash can also be dengue, Zika or chikungunya. Rest, drink fluids and give paracetamol for fever, with no ibuprofen or aspirin until dengue has been ruled out. Measles is infectious from about 4 days before the rash until 4 days after it appears: stay away from others, especially babies and pregnant women, for at least 4 days after the rash appears.
Sources: Antara, March 2026 · Bali health office via Antara, March 2026 · CDC: Indonesia · NHS: measles · WHO: polio outbreak closed
Leptospirosis
Leptospirosis comes from water or mud tainted by animal urine and rises after heavy rain, so keep out of floodwater, cover cuts and see a doctor for a fever after any contact.
In Bali now
CDC's Indonesia page, updated in August 2026, carries a flooding alert: Indonesia is reporting increased cases of leptospirosis. The health ministry's weekly surveillance report of October 2026 counted 5,292 suspected cases nationally in 2026 up to week 38, mostly in Java, against 21 in Bali and 5 in NTB, Lombok's province. Suspected cases rise every rainy season, and nationally they peaked at about 280 a week around week 10 of 2026. The Jakarta Post puts the rainy season at November to April; flash floods hit Denpasar in September 2025. The weather agency BMKG expects the 2026/27 rains to come later and be shorter than usual because of a very strong El Niño (September 2026). Press reports of BMKG put the start in Bali in November to December 2026, peaking around February 2027.
Children and babies
Children play in puddles, flooded streets, streams, rice paddies and mud, so the same rules apply to them. No wading or playing in floodwater. Cover cuts and scratches with waterproof plasters, and put them in shoes or sandals. The preventive antibiotic dose CDC describes is for adults; for children, ask a doctor.
How to avoid it
Avoid swimming or wading in fresh water, floodwater or mud, especially after heavy rain, and do not swallow river or lake water. Cover cuts with waterproof dressings and wear waterproof footwear near floodwater. Keep away from rats and their urine. Risk is highest with kayaking, rafting, river swimming and mud or adventure activities after rain. Adults planning these can ask a travel clinic or their doctor about preventive doxycycline: CDC describes 200 mg once a week, starting 1 to 2 days before and continuing through the exposure, though the evidence is limited. There is no human vaccine in the US.
Go to hospital at once if
Coughing blood or severe breathlessness is an emergency: bleeding in the lungs is a rare complication that kills more than half of those who get it (CDC). After contact with water, mud or soil that could be contaminated, get urgent help for yellow skin or eyes, a rash, being unable to pee, swollen ankles, feet or hands, chest pain or shortness of breath (NHS). About 5 to 10% of infections become severe, with kidney and liver failure.
What to do
Symptoms usually start 5 to 14 days after exposure, but can take 2 to 30: sudden fever, headache, chills, muscle pain typically in the calves and lower back, red eyes, vomiting, diarrhoea, tummy pain and sometimes yellow skin or eyes. Many people have no symptoms. See a doctor for any fever after contact with floodwater or fresh water, and mention it. Antibiotics should start as soon as leptospirosis is suspected, without waiting for test results: doxycycline for mild illness, and hospital care with intravenous penicillin for severe illness (CDC). Take paracetamol for aches and fever, and no ibuprofen or aspirin until dengue has been ruled out.
Sources: CDC: Indonesia · CDC Yellow Book: leptospirosis · NHS: leptospirosis · Health ministry report, October 2026 · The Jakarta Post, September 2025
Hand, foot and mouth disease
Hand, foot and mouth disease is a common, usually mild virus of children under 5 reported in large numbers in Bali; the main thing is to keep a child with a sore mouth drinking.
In Bali now
The health ministry's weekly surveillance report of October 2026 counted 2,477 suspected cases in Bali in 2026 up to week 38, the sixth-highest province, and fewer than 100 in NTB, Lombok's province. Nationally there were 49,125. These are suspected reports among residents. The ministry says the disease tends to rise in the hot or rainy season, and that one of its viruses, enterovirus 71, carries a higher risk of complications. In Indonesia it is often called flu Singapura. It spreads through coughs and sneezes, saliva, blister fluid, faeces, and shared toys and surfaces. Most children recover in 7 to 10 days. It is not related to foot-and-mouth disease in farm animals.
Children and babies
It mostly affects children under 5, though anyone can catch it, and more than once. Children are most infectious in the first 5 days and can spread it from a few days before symptoms (NHS). Keep a sick child out of kids' clubs, play areas and pools until they are well. Bali's health office asks parents to take any child with a fever to a clinic straight away, since it can also be dengue. See a doctor too if the child cannot drink well or is peeing less, has a weakened immune system or severe symptoms, is not better after 10 days, or is very young, especially under 6 months (CDC). A pregnant woman who catches it should be checked (NHS).
How to avoid it
Wash hands often with soap and water, especially after changing nappies and using the toilet, and help children do the same. Clean toys and surfaces. Avoid close contact such as kissing and hugging with someone who has it, and do not share cups or towels. There is no vaccine in the US, UK or Australia, and WHO says there are no specific vaccines or antiviral medicines.
Go to hospital at once if
Rarely the virus affects the brain or nerves: WHO lists meningitis, encephalitis and polio-like paralysis as possible complications. Go to the emergency department at once if a child with the illness is unusually drowsy, has a stiff neck, has a fit, has jerking or twitching, becomes weak or unsteady, or has difficulty breathing.
What to do
Fever, a sore throat and not wanting to eat come first, usually 3 to 5 days after catching it. A few days later come painful mouth ulcers and spots or blisters on the hands and feet, sometimes the groin and bottom. It gets better on its own. Give cool drinks, avoiding acidic juice, and soft foods, and skip hot, salty and spicy food. A pharmacist can suggest mouth gels. Give paracetamol for pain. The NHS also allows ibuprofen, but in Bali fever with a rash can be dengue or measles, so get the child seen and give no ibuprofen until dengue is ruled out. Never give aspirin to children.
Sources: CDC: hand, foot and mouth disease · CDC: symptoms · NHS: hand, foot and mouth disease · WHO Western Pacific: HFMD · Health ministry report, October 2026
Skin and ear infections
Warm water, humidity, scratched bites and coral cuts make skin and ear infections common on a Bali holiday, so dry ears after swimming and clean every cut at once.
In Bali now
There are no Bali figures: this is general travel-health guidance. The water and air are warm all year, and swimming and surfing fill most trips. CDC says insect-bite reactions, surface bacterial infections often on top of bites, and itchy rashes are among the most common skin problems after travel. Water left in the ear canal leads to swimmer's ear, a bacterial infection of the outer ear. Scratched bites and small cuts can turn into impetigo or cellulitis, and open wounds in warm seawater can be infected by Vibrio bacteria (CDC). Temporary 'black henna' tattoos often contain the hair-dye chemical PPD, which can cause blistering allergic reactions (FDA).
Children and babies
Impetigo is most common in young children, and a baby under 12 months with impetigo should see a doctor (NHS). Ear infections are very common in children. Signs in little ones are pulling or rubbing the ear, irritability, poor feeding, not reacting to sounds and losing balance. A baby under 12 months with pain in both ears needs urgent help. Babies get heat rash easily because they cannot control their temperature well. Children should wear shoes on beaches and sit on a towel rather than bare ground (CDC). Skip beach 'henna' tattoos: reactions to black henna in children are documented (FDA).
How to avoid it
For swimmer's ear, use a swim cap or earplugs. After swimming, tilt the head so each ear drains, towel the ears dry and gently pull the earlobe. If water remains, use a hair dryer on its lowest setting, held well away from the ear. Never put cotton buds in the ear, and leave earwax alone. Ask a doctor before using ear-drying drops, and never use them with grommets, a perforated eardrum or a discharging ear (CDC). Clean every bite and scratch with soap and clean water as soon as you can (for coral cuts, see Coral cuts and sea lice). Do not scratch bites; hydrocortisone or calamine eases itching. With an open wound, stay out of the sea or cover it with a waterproof dressing. Wear shoes on beaches where there may be animal waste. Loose cotton clothing helps prevent heat rash.
Go to hospital at once if
Go to the emergency department for spreading redness or swelling of the skin with a very high temperature or shivering, a fast heartbeat or fast breathing, purple patches, dizziness or fainting, confusion, cold, clammy or pale skin, or unresponsiveness: these are signs of sepsis (NHS). Get urgent help for an ear infection with feeling generally unwell or a very high temperature, swelling around the ear, fluid coming out, a change in hearing, vomiting, dizziness or a severe sore throat, or in someone with diabetes or a weak immune system. Any skin problem with fever, drowsiness or purple spots needs a doctor promptly (CDC).
What to do
Swimmer's ear brings itching, discharge, redness and pain when the outer ear is tugged. Stay out of the water while it lasts, keep water and shampoo out of the ear, and see a pharmacist or doctor about ear drops. Impetigo makes sores that burst into golden-brown crusts, often around the nose and mouth; it is treated with an antiseptic or antibiotic cream. Cellulitis is painful, hot, swollen skin and needs antibiotic tablets; go back if it is no better after 2 to 3 days. Heat rash is small raised spots that itch or prickle: keep cool, and ask a pharmacist about calamine or an antihistamine. A black henna reaction is an itchy, red or blistering rash in the shape of the tattoo, usually days later. For pain take paracetamol; with a fever, no ibuprofen or aspirin until dengue is ruled out.
Sources: CDC: swimmer's ear · CDC: Vibrio · NHS: ear infections · NHS: cellulitis · FDA: black henna
Heat and sun
Bali's midday sun is very strong all year, so keep babies under 6 months out of direct sun, use SPF 30 or more, drink often and cool anyone with heat exhaustion at once.
In Bali now
Bali lies about 8° south of the equator. The Denpasar office of the weather agency BMKG says UV can reach 'very high' from 11:00 to 14:00 local time, especially in the dry season with little cloud (Antara Bali, May 2024). On its scale, 8 to 10 is very high and 11 or more is extreme. BMKG reports a very strong El Niño in 2026 and expects the rains later than usual (September 2026), so dry, sunny weather may last into November or December. Water, sand and reflections add to the exposure, and water washes sunscreen off and hides burning.
Children and babies
Keep babies under 6 months out of direct strong sunlight (NHS); CDC calls severe sunburn in a young baby a medical emergency. For children over 6 months, CDC generally recommends mineral sunscreens. Children need shade between 11am and 3pm, clothing that covers, a hat and SPF 30 or higher on uncovered skin (NHS). Babies and children aged 5 and under are among those most at risk in heat. They get heat rash easily, and their signs of heat illness are the same as adults'. Hotels abroad may lack pool fencing, so an adult who can swim should stay within arm's length of babies and toddlers near pools (CDC).
How to avoid it
Stay in the shade at midday: CDC says 10am to 4pm, the NHS 11am to 3pm. Use sunscreen of at least SPF 30 with at least 4-star UVA protection (CDC's minimum is SPF 15). Put plenty on 30 minutes before going out and again just before. Reapply every 2 hours, after swimming or towelling and when sweating, even if it says water resistant (NHS). Wear a wide-brimmed hat, wraparound sunglasses and long sleeves or a rash vest. Drink regularly, and eat salty snacks if you are outdoors for hours. Wear loose, light clothing, limit hard activity in the heat and avoid too much alcohol.
Go to hospital at once if
Call an ambulance for signs of heatstroke: still unwell after 30 minutes of resting somewhere cool, being cooled and drinking; a very high temperature or hot skin that is not sweating; a fast heartbeat or fast breathing; confusion or poor coordination; a fit; or loss of consciousness (NHS). Get medical help for sunburn with feeling unwell, bad swelling or blisters, and for any baby with sunburn.
What to do
Heat exhaustion brings tiredness, dizziness, headache, nausea, heavy sweating with pale clammy skin, cramps, a high temperature, strong thirst and irritability. Move the person somewhere cool and remove extra clothing. Give plenty of water, a sports drink or oral rehydration salts. Spray or sponge the skin with cool water and fan them, with cold packs wrapped in cloth in the armpits or on the neck. Stay with them: they should feel better within 30 minutes. While waiting for help with heatstroke, wrap them in a cool wet sheet or keep sponging and fanning. If they become unconscious, use the recovery position, and start CPR if there are no signs of life (NHS). For sunburn, use cool showers and after-sun and stay out of the sun. Take paracetamol for pain; with a fever, no ibuprofen until dengue is ruled out.
Sources: NHS: heat exhaustion and heatstroke · NHS: sunscreen and sun safety · CDC Yellow Book: travelling with children · CDC: Indonesia · Antara Bali, May 2024
Vaccines to check before you go
See a travel clinic or your doctor six to eight weeks before the trip: some vaccines take more than one dose, and babies and young children follow their own schedules.
- Measles (MMR): Everyone from 12 months: two documented doses or proof of immunity. Babies of 6 to 11 months: one early extra dose (CDC, UKHSA). Ideally at least 2 weeks before travel; two doses at least 28 days apart. The baby dose does not count, so routine doses follow. A live vaccine: ask first if pregnant, planning a pregnancy or immunocompromised.
- Hepatitis A: All unvaccinated travellers from 1 year (CDC, UKHSA). CDC also advises one dose for babies of 6 to 11 months. One dose before travel, a second 6 to 12 months later. A baby's dose before 12 months does not count. UK vaccines start at 1 year. For children, CDC accepts a dose on the day of travel.
- Typhoid: Most travellers (CDC, UKHSA). Injection from 2 years; oral capsules from 5 (UK) or 6 (US). Not under 1 year. Injection at least 2 weeks before; booster after 2 years (US) or 3 (UK). Oral (live) booster after 3 (UK) or 5 years (US). Protects 50 to 80%, so food care still matters.
- Hepatitis B: CDC: unvaccinated travellers of all ages. UKHSA: can be considered for all, and advised for higher-risk trips such as long stays, tattoos or piercings, medical care, or possible unprotected sex. A course takes months; rapid schedules exist. UK children born before 1 August 2017 usually had none as babies; Australian and US children usually did. Check records.
- Tetanus, diphtheria, whooping cough, polio: Everyone, on their routine schedule. UKHSA lists tetanus for most travellers. Booster if the last tetanus dose was over 10 years ago; in the UK it covers polio too. Whooping cough vaccine in pregnancy (UK: 16 to 32 weeks). No extra polio booster for Indonesia now (CDC, September 2026).
- Japanese encephalitis: CDC: stays of a month or more, or shorter trips that are rural or outdoors or in unscreened rooms. Ixiaro is licensed from 2 months. Two doses 28 days apart (adults 18 to 65 can have them 7 days apart), the last at least 1 week before travel. The health ministry calls Bali endemic and vaccinates local babies at 10 months.
- Rabies: Discuss with a travel clinic or your doctor, especially for long stays, cycling or running, or remote travel. CDC says rabid dogs are common in Indonesia. Pre-exposure: 2 doses at least 7 days apart (CDC); 3 doses in the UK. Any bite or scratch still needs care the same day. The health ministry counted 53,076 bites by animals that can carry rabies in Bali in 2026 to mid-September, the most of any province.
- Flu: Anyone not vaccinated this season, from 6 months (CDC). At least 2 weeks before departure. Children aged 6 months to 8 years having it for the first time need 2 doses 4 weeks apart. Bali's health office found influenza A in 9 of 113 samples tested (October 2026).
- Dengue (Qdenga): From age 4 (Indonesia: 4 to 60). UK: mainly people who have probably had dengue before. Australia: also long or repeated stays. Not available in the US (CDC). Two doses 3 months apart, so start at least 3 months ahead. A live vaccine: not in pregnancy, breastfeeding or weakened immunity. Ask a travel clinic or your doctor.
- Chikungunya: Vimkunya, from 12 years: CDC for outbreaks and possibly stays of 6 months or more; UKHSA for outbreaks or long-term or frequent travel. The other vaccine, Ixchiq, had its US licence suspended on 22 August 2025 and lost its UK licence in October 2026; Vimkunya is unaffected. In pregnancy, usually wait until after delivery (CDC).
- Mpox: CDC: adults who may have sex with a new partner, or at commercial sex venues, during the trip. The health ministry counted 5 confirmed mpox cases in Bali in 2026, with new cases in Denpasar and Badung in mid-September (October 2026 report).
- Tuberculosis (BCG): UKHSA: unvaccinated children under 16 staying more than 3 months. Ask a travel clinic or your doctor.
- Yellow fever: Only an entry requirement: travellers aged 9 months or over arriving from a country with yellow fever risk (CDC). Not a recommendation for Bali or Lombok themselves; it depends on where you arrive from. Not needed when flying straight from the US.
- Malaria tablets (not a vaccine): Not needed for Bali or the Gili Islands. For rural Lombok, CDC advises tablets; UKHSA advises bite avoidance only for most travellers. Ask a travel clinic or your doctor if you will stay in rural Lombok. A child's dose is set by weight; see Malaria.
General information for visitors, checked against the sources each topic names in October 2026; not medical advice. For an emergency, call 112 where it is answered (Denpasar, Badung, Gianyar, Klungkung and central Lombok); elsewhere, 119 for an ambulance and 110 for the police. Emergency numbers and hospitals