Reduced Regiment for Human Pre-exposure Immunization against Rabies

The main aim of this study was to find a suitable rabies vaccination protocol which would allow usage of lower volumes of vaccine, fewer clinical visits and above all, enough serological effectiveness for high- risk individuals requiring pre-exposure immunization. Human diploid cell rabies vaccine was administered intradermally and intramuscularly in 60 previously unvaccinated volunteers, aged 19 to 21, following different vaccination protocols. The participants were divided into six groups, and rabies antibody titration was accomplished by ELISA. The comparison of the mean titers 30 days after termination of vaccination protocols shows that a protocol requiring only two clinical visits and ID injection of a total volume of only 0.3 ml of human diploid cell rabies vaccine (0.1 + 0.1 ml on day 0, one in each arm, and 0.1 ml on day 28) provides good serological response (6.92 IU/m1).