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Is Rabies Vaccination Required After Being Scratched By A Dog?
Question: Hello mam!!its been 55 days ago when my vaccinated dog scratch and put little bit of teeth on my arm it's not bleed!!as I approach to doctor he told me to have 0 3 7 day vaccination!!as mam 55 days are over and dog is joyful is there any reason to afraid?becasue of my anxiety I went to the doctor and he told me if you are so anxious then complete your immunization and he gave me fourth dose on 52 day and told me to have last done week later??now mam I am totally confident that nothing is there to worry??should I go for 5 dose or skip that!!and 4 dose after that much delay will cause any harm to my immunity??and mam is there any reason to worry now??thankinh you
Brief Answer:
If the dog has been healthy for 10 days, no vaccine is necessary.
Detailed Answer:
I can only give you the recommendations that we use in XXXXXXX but our guidelines are that should be confined and observed for 10 days.
If the dog did NOT appear ill during the 10 days of observation or after, then the dog is healthy and without rabies. The person who was bit does not need any rabies vaccination.
If the dog is a stray or wild and cannot be caught for observation, then the rabies vaccine series plus immunoglobulin is given.
So if the dog is healthy and happy you do not need any vaccination. You can rest easy.
I hope this answers your question.
If the dog has been healthy for 10 days, no vaccine is necessary.
Detailed Answer:
I can only give you the recommendations that we use in XXXXXXX but our guidelines are that should be confined and observed for 10 days.
If the dog did NOT appear ill during the 10 days of observation or after, then the dog is healthy and without rabies. The person who was bit does not need any rabies vaccination.
If the dog is a stray or wild and cannot be caught for observation, then the rabies vaccine series plus immunoglobulin is given.
So if the dog is healthy and happy you do not need any vaccination. You can rest easy.
I hope this answers your question.
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
And mam the four vacation that I have taken will cause any problem to my immunity??is there any need to panick after having these four vaccination??
The vaccination I have used is abahayrab and it's an purified inactivated rabies vaccine prepared on vero cells!!
The vaccination I have used is abahayrab and it's an purified inactivated rabies vaccine prepared on vero cells!!
Brief Answer:
Yes, it looks like this vaccine is safe.
Detailed Answer:
Here is an article about Vero cell abahayrab vaccine (among other rabies vaccines) having been given to pregnant women. Afterwards, the women and their babies were all ok:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/0000
I also found this article saying that they found Abahayrab to be a safe vaccine:
http://abm.digitaljournals.org/index.php/abm/article/viewFile/311/212
It would be safe to receive the series whether you had been bitten by a rabid dog or not.
If you need any further clarification please let me know how I can help.
Yes, it looks like this vaccine is safe.
Detailed Answer:
Here is an article about Vero cell abahayrab vaccine (among other rabies vaccines) having been given to pregnant women. Afterwards, the women and their babies were all ok:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/0000
I also found this article saying that they found Abahayrab to be a safe vaccine:
http://abm.digitaljournals.org/index.php/abm/article/viewFile/311/212
It would be safe to receive the series whether you had been bitten by a rabid dog or not.
If you need any further clarification please let me know how I can help.
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
Ok thank you mam!!so mam now I can skip fifth dose as my dog is not rabid?and mam can rabies vaccination lead to rabies??
Brief Answer:
Yes, you can skip the fifth dose.
Detailed Answer:
You can skip the fifth dose since your dog does not have rabies. He would have shown the disease by now. You are done getting rabies shots!
About whether you can get the disease from the vaccine: this is certainly a reasonable question, because with some vaccines that are meant to protect against diseases it is possible to become sick from the vaccine virus. But it is NOT possible to get rabies with Abahyrab and here is why:
Abahyrab is an inactivated (killed) virus vaccine. This means that the rabies virus or virus particles were grown on culture cells, then killed and are no longer capable of producing an infection.
So, no, the Abahyrab rabies vaccinations would not be able to cause any infection. You definitely cannot get rabies from this vaccine.
Yes, you can skip the fifth dose.
Detailed Answer:
You can skip the fifth dose since your dog does not have rabies. He would have shown the disease by now. You are done getting rabies shots!
About whether you can get the disease from the vaccine: this is certainly a reasonable question, because with some vaccines that are meant to protect against diseases it is possible to become sick from the vaccine virus. But it is NOT possible to get rabies with Abahyrab and here is why:
Abahyrab is an inactivated (killed) virus vaccine. This means that the rabies virus or virus particles were grown on culture cells, then killed and are no longer capable of producing an infection.
So, no, the Abahyrab rabies vaccinations would not be able to cause any infection. You definitely cannot get rabies from this vaccine.
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
Thanks mam for your elaborate answer!!so mam can I know relaxed my self as there is nothing to worry regarding rabies??and mam will these four vaccine help in future?thanking you
Brief Answer:
Yes, you don't need to worry about rabies from this current bite.
Detailed Answer:
There is nothing at all to worry about regarding rabies from this current bite or from having had a series of 4 vaccinations.
I thought you might like to see the guidelines from the World Health Organization (WHO) which advises countries world wide. Please first see page 5, paragraph 1 which says:
"Post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) may be discontinued if the animal involved is a dog or cat that remains healthy for an observation period of 10 days after the exposure occurred."
Post exposure prophylaxis means giving the vaccine (if the skin was scratched but wasn't broken or didn't bleed) or the vaccine plus immunoglobulin (if there was a major break-thru-skin bite).
http://www.who.int/rabies/PEP_prophylaxis_guidelines_June10.pdf
Unfortunately I cannot find anywhere what the guidelines are if you have been partially vaccinated (i.e. some but not all of the shots) and get a suspected new bite. For people who have been fully vaccinated with rabies vaccine in the past, the protocol is to give 2 doses of the rabies vaccine and no immunoglobulin.
I would have to assume that you have some immunity now from the series of 4 that you got, even if it isn't full immunity.
If you want to know what you would need if you were bitten again (by a dog who you CANNOT observe for 10 days) I would suggest asking this question of an infectious disease specialist. I do not know if we have one on this website to answer the question. But if you want, you can try to ask by saying "For Infectious Disease Specialist ONLY" before the question.
Alternatively, you can wait and hopefully you will not be bitten again. But if a stray dog or one you cannot observe for 10 days does bite you, perhaps the public health department where you live can advise.
Yes, you don't need to worry about rabies from this current bite.
Detailed Answer:
There is nothing at all to worry about regarding rabies from this current bite or from having had a series of 4 vaccinations.
I thought you might like to see the guidelines from the World Health Organization (WHO) which advises countries world wide. Please first see page 5, paragraph 1 which says:
"Post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) may be discontinued if the animal involved is a dog or cat that remains healthy for an observation period of 10 days after the exposure occurred."
Post exposure prophylaxis means giving the vaccine (if the skin was scratched but wasn't broken or didn't bleed) or the vaccine plus immunoglobulin (if there was a major break-thru-skin bite).
http://www.who.int/rabies/PEP_prophylaxis_guidelines_June10.pdf
Unfortunately I cannot find anywhere what the guidelines are if you have been partially vaccinated (i.e. some but not all of the shots) and get a suspected new bite. For people who have been fully vaccinated with rabies vaccine in the past, the protocol is to give 2 doses of the rabies vaccine and no immunoglobulin.
I would have to assume that you have some immunity now from the series of 4 that you got, even if it isn't full immunity.
If you want to know what you would need if you were bitten again (by a dog who you CANNOT observe for 10 days) I would suggest asking this question of an infectious disease specialist. I do not know if we have one on this website to answer the question. But if you want, you can try to ask by saying "For Infectious Disease Specialist ONLY" before the question.
Alternatively, you can wait and hopefully you will not be bitten again. But if a stray dog or one you cannot observe for 10 days does bite you, perhaps the public health department where you live can advise.
Note: For further follow up on related General & Family Physician Click here.
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
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