Question about rabies vaccinations

[0rganism]

Does anyone here have any "official" stats on what the success rate for rabies vaccinations are in preventing the infection and spread of the virus? In particular, I'm interested in what percentage still contracted rabies after vaccination, given known exposure (i.e., the individual is known to have been exposed to rabies) and the "typical" post-exposure prophylaxis treatment of a vaccinated adult caucasian male. I would imagine the risk would be very low, but I'm curious as to how low.

[kestrel91316]

1. If given promptly (within days of exposure), the PEP is highly effective,

but like anything medical it's not 100% at stopping rabies virus. You have to factor in how much rabies virus got into the patient (single tiny bite from a bat versus multiple large, traumatic bites from a dog); what body part got the exposure (cornea vs hand); general health of the victim (immunosuppression matters); and of course prior vaccination status (we vets have all had rabies shots - the preventive kind just like dogs and cats get - so we need a minimal PEP protocol.

Given the uniform fatality of rabies infection, it is ALWAYS in the victim's best interest to just go ahead and get the PEP. Once the virus starts making trouble, or even if it goes too far up the peripheral nerves, it's TOO LATE.

I'm going to see if I can find some info on the protocols with CDC, or elsewhere. I have a good file of articles (paper file) at work, but scanning is not so feasible with my dinosaur computer.

It would help if I knew what this was pertaining to - what you need the info FOR.

[kestrel91316]

2. Link to the CDC rabies page:

http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvrd/rabies/Prevention&Control/preventi.htm

[kestrel91316]

3. The above link says that they have had NO vaccine (PEP) failures

(I assume this pertains to the "new" protocol developed 20 years ago) where treatment was provided correctly and in a timely manner.

[0rganism]

4. Awesome, if so

BTW, the particulars of the case were that my brother, who works for a state health dept. doing lab work, had an accident with a vial of test material (not sure about the concentration of rabies virus therein) in which some of it splashed past his safety glasses into his eye, so exposure was corneal. This was about two weeks ago. He was, of course, vaccinated when he started the job and began the PEP immediately after exposure, but just recently started having some weird symptoms. I'm figuring that these are signs of his immune system ramping up to handle the vaccine, which I've read happens in about half of PEP cases, but I was hoping someone would have better info.

Thanks for the CDC link; it's quite reassuring.

[kestrel91316]

5. Having the vaccination series beforehand in high-risk people is

VERY helpful. It gives them the jump on the virus. Corneal exposure in an unvaccinated person would be VERY iffy, and quite possibly the virus would not be stopped by PEP in time to save his life. Did your brother ever have his titer checked?

I had possible aerosol/respiratory/corneal exposure to rabies years ago when a cat later confirmed rabid snorted and snuffled at me from his carrier and I was pretty close to his face (never took him out of the carrier - he was the "furious" form like virtually all rabid cats are). I was treated very aggressively (had to get the immunoglobulin inj) because I didn't have a documented titer.

It's a scary thing to have to go through, but I'm sure your brother will be fine.