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Dr. Andrew Rynne
MD
Dr. Andrew Rynne

Family Physician

Exp 50 years

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Is It Possible To Get Infected With Rabies Despite Taking An Anti Rabies Shot?

I had been bitten by a stray dog in Sri Lanka on 7th January 2018. I washed the wound after 3 hours and taken Inj: TT, Human Immunoglobulin and 5 doses of Rabies vaccine. But I am having twitching muscle around the bite area. what to do? Should I be revaccinated? And, after vaccination, can rabies develop?
Tue, 17 Jul 2018
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Internal Medicine Specialist,  's  Response
Hello and Welcome to ‘Ask A Doctor’ service. I have reviewed your query and here is my advice.

If you've done 5 doses then you've done even more than the necessary doses (4 doses seem to be as effective as 5). The level of protection is probably the same. Having done the immunoglobulin too is all you could have done. Unfortunately this "treatment" is not 100% effective. There have been treatment failures in the past. Some of them have been attributed to the immune status of the involved individual (immunocompromised individuals are more likely to experience failures), other cases have not been adequately explained. If symptoms that may resemble rabies occur then measuring the antibodies against rabies may provide additional information. If you haven't developed adequate antibody titers then revaccination might be an option. Be reassured (as you can be!) that this kind of treatment is very effective. I can't say how effective as this is not easy to measure due to the nature of this disease.

Hope I have answered your query. Let me know if I can assist you further.
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Is It Possible To Get Infected With Rabies Despite Taking An Anti Rabies Shot?

Hello and Welcome to ‘Ask A Doctor’ service. I have reviewed your query and here is my advice. If you ve done 5 doses then you ve done even more than the necessary doses (4 doses seem to be as effective as 5). The level of protection is probably the same. Having done the immunoglobulin too is all you could have done. Unfortunately this treatment is not 100% effective. There have been treatment failures in the past. Some of them have been attributed to the immune status of the involved individual (immunocompromised individuals are more likely to experience failures), other cases have not been adequately explained. If symptoms that may resemble rabies occur then measuring the antibodies against rabies may provide additional information. If you haven t developed adequate antibody titers then revaccination might be an option. Be reassured (as you can be!) that this kind of treatment is very effective. I can t say how effective as this is not easy to measure due to the nature of this disease. Hope I have answered your query. Let me know if I can assist you further.