31 March 2021
This article is part of a series of explainers on vaccine development and distribution. Learn more about vaccines – from how they work and how they’re made to ensuring safety and equitable access – in WHO’s
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Vaccines Explained series.
Countries around the world are rolling out COVID-19 vaccines, and a key topic of interest is their safety. Vaccine safety is one of WHO’s highest priorities, and we’re working closely with national authorities to develop and implement standards to ensure that COVID-19 vaccines are safe and effective.
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Video
Further OIE Support for African Countries on Rabies vaccines
For more than 100 years, the clearest route to elimination of dog-mediated rabies has been via mass vaccination of the animal hosts. It’s worked in plenty of countries. Still, in others, like India, which grapples with a third of the world’s
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rabies burden, large populations of free-roaming, hard-to-track, often hard-to-reach dogs have made elimination an elusive goal.
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Overview
The aim of this guide is to support national immunization programme managers and others responsible for implementing human rabies vaccine programmes to:
inform policy discussions and operational planning for introducing or expanding
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rabies post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) into a national immunization programme (e.g. through the national immunization programme, or other programmes); and
highlight considerations specific to rabies PEP for integration into existing systems, including for implementation, and monitoring and evaluation.
While the guide is mainly intended for programme managers and focuses on human vaccination, complementary animal health measures are highlighted where relevant given the zoonotic nature of rabies.
The guide was developed collaboratively with input from technical experts in rabies and immunization, vaccines and biologicals.
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As of 14 December 2021, a total of 19 laboratory-confirmed human rabies cases has been reported in South Africa for 2021. The cases are from Eastern Cape, KwaZuluNatal and Limpopo provinces. In addition, four probable
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rabies cases were reported from KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape provinces. A probable case of rabies is defined as a person who has had a history of contact with a suspected or confirmed rabid animal and has developed an acute encephalitis with hyperactivity and paralytic signs and symptoms that progressed and resulted in death, usually by cardiac or respiratory failure, typically within ten days.
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This guide provides a comprehensive overview of essential information related to immunization, including technical information about vaccines, a review of immunization program management best practices, guidance on the delivery of immunization servi
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ces, monitoring and evaluation, disease surveillance, and the role of behavior change.
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Rabies is a virus (Lyssavirus) that infects cells in the central nervous
system, causing disease in the brain and, ultimately, death. Any animal
with rabies has the ability to transmit the disease
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to humans or other
animals.
There is no cure for rabies, but it is 100 percent preventable through
prompt, appropriate medical care.
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Website last accessed in 12.03.23
CDC’s Lauren Greenberg writes about building rabies diagnostic capacity in the effort to control rabies in countries that are most affected by the disease.
Rabies is a public health problem in Asia and vaccine affordability is an issue.
There is no reduction in the number of persons seeking post-exposure prophylaxis.
The high cost of cell culture vaccines
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for intramuscular use is a limiting factor.
Intradermal rabies vaccination offers cost-effective alternative to intramuscular.
WHO recommended one week intradermal schedule will ensure good patient compliance.
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‘World Rabies Day’ is observed worldwide to mark the death anniversary of Louis Pasteur, a
French biologist, microbiologist and chemist who developed the first rabies vaccine. It’s a day wher
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e
Anti Rabies actions are collated, intensified and showcased.
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A regimen of four 1-mL doses of HDCV or PCEC vaccines should be administered intramuscularly to previously unvaccinated persons.
The first dose of the four-dose course should be administered as soon as possible after exposure. Additional doses sh
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ould be administered on days 3, 7, and 14 after the first vaccination. For adults, the vaccination should always be administered intramuscularly in the deltoid area (arm). For children, the anterolateral aspect of the thigh is also acceptable. The gluteal area should never be used for rabies vaccine injections because observations suggest administration in this area results in lower neutralizing antibody titers.
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Rabies is a neglected zoonotic disease responsible for an estimated 59,000 human deaths annually. Rural populations in Africa and Asia are predominantly affected, and approximately
40% of cases occur in children under the age of 15 years. Transmitt
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ed through bites and scratches from infected animals, dogs are responsible for up to 99% of human rabies cases.
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WHO Secretariat Information paper July 2016
Website last accessed on 08.05.2023
Parts of the continent are still blighted by one of the world's deadliest diseases. An app is helping to turn the tide.
The Committee discussed the implications for preparedness for smallpox-like events reflected by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The Committee noted how quickly diagnostics and vaccines could be developed and deployed when resources and political will
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were abundant. This rapidity was also due to the fact that the genetic sequence of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) had been shared worldwide. It was noted that in one country SARS-CoV-2 had been reconstructed in a laboratory from the viral genome sequence before the first case of COVID-19 had been reported, highlighting the benefits of synthetic biology technologies for accelerated development of diagnostics as well as the oft-described potential risks. Lessons learned about clinical care during the COVID-19 pandemic were also discussed.
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