Reduced dose pre-exposure primary and booster intradermal rabies vaccination with a purified chick embryo cell vaccine (PCECV) is immunogenic and safe in adults.
Pre-exposure vaccination of persons at risk with intradermally administered reduced dose cell culture rabies vaccines remains controversial in low-enzootic countries. In a prospective clinical trial of adult volunteers (N=25), we studied the immune response to purified chick embryo cell vaccine (PCECV) administered intradermally at a reduced dose (0.1 mL) in a three-dose schedule (0, 7 and 21 days). In 10 subjects, immunogenicity of intradermally administered one-dose booster vaccination with 0.1 mL PCECV was investigated. All participants were seroconverted 3 weeks after primary and 1 week after booster vaccination (antibody titre > or = 0.5 EU/mL, measured by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay). Local adverse events such as erythema and swelling were moderate and transitory. The intradermal vaccination route offers an efficacious and cost-reducing strategy to increase the accessibility of cell culture rabies vaccines.
Department of Infectious Diseases, C5-P, Leiden University Medical Center, P.O. Box 9600, 2300 RC Leiden, The Netherlands.
A H
AH
Roukens
A C
AC
Vossen
J T
JT
van Dissel
L G
LG
Visser
D000328:Adult; D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000097:blood; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007117:Immunization, Secondary; D007271:Injections, Intradermal; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011818:Rabies / Q000517:prevention & control*; D011819:Rabies Vaccines / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000276:immunology*; D014611:Vaccination / Q000379:methods*
D000914:Antibodies, Viral; D011819:Rabies Vaccines