Post-Exposure Rabies Prophylaxis —Shorter, Simpler, and Less Costly

Fischer, Philip R. MD, DTM&H

Professor of Pediatrics, Department of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN; Department of Pediatrics, Sheikh Shakhbout Medical City, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

Financial Disclosure: None of the planners or authors of this educational activity have relevant financial relationships to disclose with ineligible companies whose primary business is producing, marketing, selling, re-selling, or distributing healthcare products used by or on patients.

Infectious Disease Alert 42(11):p 121-123, August 2023.

SYNOPSIS: After bites by animals potentially infected with rabies, three-visit (over one week) intradermal rabies vaccination was compared to standard four-visit (over two weeks) intramuscular rabies vaccination. Both vaccine regimens prompted similarly protective neutralizing antibody and T-cell responses. While still off-label, the shorter, simpler regimen could protect patients at lower cost than the current standard regimen.

SOURCE: Auerswald H, Maestri A, Touch S, et al. Side-by-side comparative study of the immunogenicity of the intramuscular and intradermal rabies post-exposure prophylaxis regimens in a cohort of suspected RABV exposed individuals. Clin Infect Dis 2023; Jun 20:ciad304. doi: 10.1093/cid/ciad304. [Online ahead of print].