Rabies control in high-burden countries: role of universal pre-exposure immunization.
review · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 38076715.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1016/j.lansea.2023.100258 and PMC identifier 10709677.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
Rabies is a fatal zoonotic encephalitis that is responsible for approximately 59,000 deaths worldwide every year. A significant portion of these deaths, about one-third, occur in India alone. In order to meet the World Health Organization's objective of eliminating dog-mediated rabies by 2030, India has made considerable progress in this regard. However, implementing the current strategies of canine immunization, sterilization, and providing post-exposure prophylaxis to exposed individuals is challenging in a large and diverse country like India. This article aims to highlight the limitations of relying solely on post-exposure prophylaxis for the prevention of human rabies. Moreover, it presents the necessity and rationale for including pre-exposure immunization in India's national immunization schedule.