Why does rabies vaccine prevent rabies?
After rabies vaccination, anti-rabies virus antibodies can appear in human blood. These antibodies can prevent the direct spread of the virus between cells, reduce the proliferation of the virus, and at the same time remove the free rabies virus and prevent the reproduction and spread of the virus thus preventing rabies.
The WHO recommends 2 main immunization strategies for the
prevention of human rabies:
Post exposure
prophylaxis (PEP) which includes extensive and thorough wound washing at
the rabies-exposure site, together with rabies immunoglobulin (RIG)
administration if indicated, and the administration of a course of several
doses of rabies vaccine;
Pre-exposure
prophylaxis (PrEP) which is the administration of several doses of rabies
vaccine to high risk populations before exposure to rabies.
For both PEP and PrEP, vaccines can be administered by either
intra-dermal…