Subject(s)
Immune Sera/history , Rabies Vaccines/history , Rabies/history , Animals , Bites and Stings/complications , Bites and Stings/history , Dogs , History, 20th Century , Humans , Immune Sera/administration & dosage , Mice , Rabies/prevention & control , Rabies Vaccines/administration & dosage , WolvesABSTRACT
Contact was maintained with 27 of 45 persons for four years after their severe exposure to rabies virus and successful protection. During that time, these persons showed no adverse effects of treatment and maintained rabies-neutralizing antibody at the level of 2 to 91 IU/mL of serum. After a single booster inoculation of human diploid cell culture vaccine four years after the initial treatment, levels of neutralizing antibodies rose to 36 to 650 IU/mL of serum ten days after the booster inoculation. These observations confirm the persistence of rabies-specific serum antibodies for an extended (four years) period after vaccination. Furthermore, a single booster inoculation with human diploid cell culture vaccine resulted in a sharp increase in the level of antibodies, indicating that a person would probably be protected against a second exposure.
Subject(s)
Antibodies, Viral/analysis , Immunization, Secondary , Rabies Vaccines/therapeutic use , Rabies virus/immunology , Rabies/prevention & control , Adolescent , Adult , Aged , Child , Child, Preschool , Evaluation Studies as Topic , Female , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Time FactorsABSTRACT
Forty-five persons severely bitten by rabid dogs and wolves in Iran were treated after exposure with a new rabies vaccine produced in cultures of human diploid cells. All except one also received one injection of rabies immune serum. This treatment, in contrast to past experience with other vaccines, resulted in protection of all individuals against rabies. Thus, almost a century after the postexposure treatment of humans was initiated, an effective tool for protecting man against rabies has finally been developed.
