HWN Suggests

Rethinking the rabies vaccine

Rabies vaccines come with one major drawback: they do not offer lifelong protection. Pets require a booster dose every 1 to 3 years. Rabies vaccines for humans and domestic animals are currently made from killed virus. But this inactivation process can cause the molecules to become misshapen – so these vaccines aren’t showing the right form to the immune system.

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  There's a Rabies Vaccine But 59,000 People Still Die From It Every Year

The WHO wants the world to double down on fighting rabies, and finally end the disease.

Articles of Interest

July 6, 1885: Rabies Vaccine Saves Boy – and Pasteur

He developed his rabies vaccine by growing the virus in rabbits, then drying the affected nerve tissue to weaken the virus. On July 6, 1885, the vaccine was administered to Joseph Meister, a 9-year-old boy who had been attacked by a rabid dog. The boy survived and avoided contracting rabies, which would have almost certainly proved fatal. Good thing it worked: Pasteur was not a licensed physician and could have been prosecuted had the vaccine failed. The legalities were forgotten, and Pasteur instead became a national hero.

Rabies Kills Tens of Thousands Yearly. Vaccinating Dogs Could Stop It

Sometimes the interests of humans and animals are the same, but humans have to save the animals first.

Rabies Vaccine What You Need to Know

Rabies vaccine is given to people at high risk of rabies to protect them if they are exposed. It can also prevent the disease if it is given to a person after they have been exposed. Rabies vaccine is made from killed rabies virus. It cannot cause rabies

Rabies – a global killer that dog jabs can eliminate

Great strides have been made in the development of human vaccines to prevent rabies. These previously required a series of very painful injections into the stomach, with occasional adverse events that caused serious neurological problems. Human rabies vaccines today are extremely safe (nerve tissue vaccines have been phased out around the world except for a handful of countries), and new regimens are making them less costly, but they still require repeat hospital visits. The problem remains, though, that not every bite victim gets vaccinated and so deaths continue.

That Time Europe Air-Dropped Vaccine-Loaded Chicken Heads to Bait Rabid Foxes

The events that led teams of helicopter-borne vets to pelt the Swiss countryside with vaccine-impregnated chicken heads began in 1939. Two things were then sweeping through Poland: the Nazis, and an epidemic of rabies carried by red foxes. Every year, the wavefront of disease advanced southward and westward by several dozen kilometers, hitting country after country. In March of 1967, it reached Switzerland.

There Are Now Anti-Vaccination Pet Owners

A glimpse into yet another way Americans treat their pets like children.

Why a simple, lifesaving rabies shot can cost $10,000 in America

Untreated rabies is always fatal — but key drugs leave families with thousands in medical debt.

Resources

Imovax Rabies

IMOVAX® Rabies is indicated for the active immunization of individuals of all age groups to prevent disease caused by the rabies virus. It is indicated for both pre-exposure prophylaxis and post-exposure prophylaxis.1

RabAvert

RabAvert (rabies vaccine) is for pre-exposure vaccination in both primary series and booster dose, and for post-exposure prophylaxis against rabies, in all age groups.