Abstract:
Background and objective: Rabies is still a serious public health problem in much of Asia. Management of
severe exposures includes use of immunoglobulin which is expensive and scarce in regions where needed the
most. Pre-exposure vaccination of subjects at risk eliminates need for immunoglobulin in case of an exposure.
Pre-exposure vaccination schedules require 3 injections of tissue culture vaccine over 2-4 weeks. It would be
desirable to learn if a reduced dose might be able to induce an adequate immune response.
Method: Thirteen volunteers received one intramuscular dose of a WHO recognized commercial rabies vaccine.
All had detectable neutralizing antibodies six months later and developed an accelerated immune response when
given a simulated post-exposure rabies vaccine series. Results: This study suggests that one intramuscular injection of purified vero cell rabies vaccine provides
immune memory for at least 6 months. This study needs to be repeated with a larger number of subjects for a
longer period of time as it may be of interest for selected populations.
