Rabies Vaccine

[Pat Robinson]

"Inappropriate postexposure prophylaxis may also result in clinical rabies." (line 55.)

"No postexposure vaccine failures have occurred in the United States since cell culture vaccines have been routinely used (1). Failures have occurred abroad, almost always after deviation from
the recommended postexposure treatment protocol (21-24). In two cases with bites to the face, treatment failed although no deviation from the recommended postexposure treatment protocol
appeared to have occurred (25). " (line 110.)

"Circumstances of Biting Incident

An UNPROVOKED attack is more likely than a provoked attack to indicate the animal is rabid. Bites inflicted on a person attempting to feed or handle an apparently healthy animal should generally be regarded as PROVOKED. A currently vaccinated dog, cat or ferret is unlikely to become infected with rabies (1). (line 210.)

"Immediate and thorough washing of all bite wounds and scratches with soap and water is an important measure for preventing rabies. In animal studies, thorough local wound cleansing alone has been shown to reduce markedly the likelihood of rabies." (line 262.)

"Warnings

Anaphylaxis, encephalitis including death, meningitis, neuroparalytic events such as encephalitis, transient paralysis, Guillain-Barre Syndrome, myelitis, and retrobulbar neuritis; and multiple
sclerosis have been reported to be temporally associated with the use of RabAvert." (line 320.)

http://www.fda.gov/downloads/BiologicsBloodVaccines/Vaccines/Approv...