RESUMO
At the Leopoldo Izquieta Perez National Institute of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine in Guayaquil, Ecuador, between November 1983 and February 1985 an evaluation was done of the serological response of two groups, of 19 volunteers each, who received rabies suckling mouse brain (SMB) vaccine produced by that institution and quality- controlled by the PAHO/WHO Pan Américan Zoonoses Center. Two postexposure treatment schemes were used: one group received 14 doses of rabies SMB vaccine (one per day) plus three boosters at 10, 20, and 90 days after the last dose of the initial series; the other group recieved six doses (one per day) and two boosters at 20 and 90 days after completing the initial series. It was not possible to demonstrate statistically significant differences between the median titers of the rabies neutralizing antibody in the two groups at 32, 98, and 180 days after the beginning of the two treatments. The results of this study could serve as a basis for the health authorities of Ecuador in their adoption of a limited vaccination scheme that is more innocuous, effective, and economical than the scheme presently applied in that country