October 18, 2019
Bulletin interne de l'Institut Pasteur
Rabies: a shorter, cheaper vaccination schedule following a suspected rabid dog bite
A study by teams from the Institut Pasteur du Cambodge and the Institut Pasteur in Paris confirms the efficacy of the new post-exposure rabies vaccination schedule developed in the Institut Pasteur International Network and adopted by the World Health Organization (WHO).
Since 2018, WHO has recommended post-exposure vaccination for rabies, immediately after a bite by a suspected rabid animal, in three sessions over a week instead of the previous recommendation of four sessions over a month. "It was the scientific data that we collected in Cambodia which led WHO to change its recommendations," explains Arnaud Tarantola, Head of the Epidemiology and Public Health Unit at the Institut Pasteur du Cambodge from 2011 to 2016, now based at the Institut Pasteur in Paris.