<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> Background: In rabies endemic areas, re-exposures to rabies are quite common and the incidence could be up to 15%. The recent guidelines of World Health Organization do not specify the duration of protection provided by previous pre- or post exposure prophylaxis. This often puts the treating physician in a dilemma in such cases of re-exposure.Objective: Study the time interval between primary and booster vaccination in individuals who have taken previously a full course of either pre- or post exposure prophylaxis and are now re-exposed to rabies.Methods: The data obtained through a literature search using Pubmed and advanced Google search along with data from in house clinical trials were used for analysis. Sixty-six vaccine cohorts spanning more than 27 years from 1983 to 2010 from six countries were studied. The duration of protection offered by previous vaccination was assessed by using a surrogate marker of adequate (> 0.5 IU per mL) rabies virus neutralizing antibody levels in the individuals vaccinated either by pre-exposure or post exposure regimens received by intramuscular or intradermal routes.Results: The proportions of 2,795 subjects who had received prior post-exposure immunization and produced rabies virus neutralizing antibody levels of less than 0.5 IU per mL were 0.07% and 0.14% at the end of the first and third month post primary vaccination. All 577 subjects with previous pre-exposure vaccination had antibody responses above 0.5 IU per mL at the end of the first and third month post primary vaccination.Conclusion: We concluded that it may be safe for up to three months after previous pre- or post exposure vaccination to not administer boosters to healthy subjects who have been re-exposed to rabies.</abstract>

Background: In rabies endemic areas, re-exposures to rabies are quite common and the incidence could be up to 15%. The recent guidelines of World Health Organization do not specify the duration of protection provided by previous pre- or post exposure prophylaxis. This often puts the treating physician in a dilemma in such cases of re-exposure.Objective: Study the time interval between primary and booster vaccination in individuals who have taken previously a full course of either pre- or post exposure prophylaxis and are now re-exposed to rabies.Methods: The data obtained through a literature search using Pubmed and advanced Google search along with data from in house clinical trials were used for analysis. Sixty-six vaccine cohorts spanning more than 27 years from 1983 to 2010 from six countries were studied. The duration of protection offered by previous vaccination was assessed by using a surrogate marker of adequate (> 0.5 IU per mL) rabies virus neutralizing antibody levels in the individuals vaccinated either by pre-exposure or post exposure regimens received by intramuscular or intradermal routes.Results: The proportions of 2,795 subjects who had received prior post-exposure immunization and produced rabies virus neutralizing antibody levels of less than 0.5 IU per mL were 0.07% and 0.14% at the end of the first and third month post primary vaccination. All 577 subjects with previous pre-exposure vaccination had antibody responses above 0.5 IU per mL at the end of the first and third month post primary vaccination.Conclusion: We concluded that it may be safe for up to three months after previous pre- or post exposure vaccination to not administer boosters to healthy subjects who have been re-exposed to rabies.

Time interval for booster vaccination following reexposure to rabies in previously vaccinated subjects

Department of Community Medicine, Kempegowda Institute of Medical Sciences, Bangalore 560070,

Asian Biomedicine

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

Background: In rabies endemic areas, re-exposures to rabies are quite common and the incidence could be up to 15%. The recent guidelines of World Health...

Time interval for booster vaccination following reexposure to rabies in previously vaccinated subjects

Article Category: Review article

Published Online: Feb 04, 2017

Page range: 589 - 593

DOI: https://doi.org/10.5372/1905-7415.0505.078

Keywords
Booster vaccination, post exposure prophylaxis, pre-exposure vaccination, rabies, re-exposure

© 2017

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

Time interval for booster vaccination following reexposure to rabies in previously vaccinated subjects

Article Category: Review article

Published Online: Feb 04, 2017

Page range: 589 - 593

DOI: https://doi.org/10.5372/1905-7415.0505.078

KeywordsBooster vaccination, post exposure prophylaxis, pre-exposure vaccination, rabies, re-exposure

© 2017

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

Keywords
Booster vaccination, post exposure prophylaxis, pre-exposure vaccination, rabies, re-exposure