http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/427907?WebLogicSession=PH2e3pPICmoC6f5A6bm0BrPCtTS1of6HKH1ZI88PsLA3ylSNuNFT|6559968740715491888/-1408233354/6/7001/7001/7002/7002/7001/-1  

 

Unnecessary Rabies Vaccination Can Be Prevented

 

 

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) Feb 21 - Many rabies vaccinations given to people potentially exposed through contact with animals may be unnecessary, a study by the Florida Department of Health suggests.

Officials found that over two summers, nearly one quarter of the possible rabies cases they studied were treated unnecessarily with postexposure rabies vaccination. Treatment was deemed unnecessary for a variety of reasons, including cases where the animal involved had tested negative for rabies after death or the animal was available for observation to detect rabies symptoms.

Better animal control and communication between health professionals and animal-control agencies could cut the number of unnecessary rabies vaccinations, Lisa Conti and her colleagues report in the February issue of the Southern Medical Journal.

The availability of the rabies vaccine, along with animal control and pet vaccination, has made human rabies rare in the US. According to Conti's team, no human case has been reported in Florida since 1947.

However, they point out, Florida's health department spent $2.5 million in 1997 and 1998 on postexposure rabies vaccination. Cutting down on unnecessary treatment could lower these costs, the researchers report.

Conti and her colleagues looked at 160 cases in 15 Florida counties in which patients received postexposure rabies vaccination provided by state repositories. They deemed 22% of these treatments to be unnecessary.

Pets were involved in a majority of the potential rabies exposures, according to the report. The researchers point out that better control of stray dogs and cats and the enforcement of leash laws would cut down on human rabies scares in the first place.

And when there is possible exposure, they write, a "stronger network" among doctors, health departments and animal-control agencies could allow patients' rabies shots to be delayed while suspect animals are tested or observed.

So Med J 2002;95:225-230.

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ALL INFORMATION, DATA, AND MATERIAL CONTAINED, PRESENTED, OR PROVIDED HERE IS FOR GENERAL INFORMATION PURPOSES ONLY AND IS NOT TO BE CONSTRUED AS REFLECTING THE KNOWLEDGE OR OPINIONS OF THE PUBLISHER, AND IS NOT TO BE CONSTRUED OR INTENDED AS PROVIDING MEDICAL OR LEGAL ADVICE.  THE DECISION WHETHER OR NOT TO VACCINATE IS AN IMPORTANT AND COMPLEX ISSUE AND SHOULD BE MADE BY YOU, AND YOU ALONE, IN CONSULTATION WITH YOUR HEALTH CARE PROVIDER.