Effective vaccination against rabies in puppies in rabies endemic regions.

In rabies endemic regions, a proportionally higher incidence of rabies is often reported in dogs younger than 12 months of age, which includes puppies less than 3 months of age; this presents a serious risk to public health. The higher incidence of rabies in young dogs may be the effect of low vaccination coverage in this age class, partly as a result of the perception that immature immune systems and maternal antibodies inhibit seroconversion to rabies vaccine in puppies less than three months of age. Therefore, to test this perception, the authors report the virus neutralising antibody titres from 27 dogs that were vaccinated with high quality, inactivated rabies vaccine aged three months of age and under as part of larger serological studies undertaken in Gauteng Province, South Africa, and the Serengeti District, Tanzania. All of these dogs seroconverted to a single dose of vaccine with no adverse reactions reported and with postvaccinal peak titres ranging from 2.0 IU/ml to 90.5 IU/ml. In light of these results, and the risk of human beings contracting rabies from close contact with puppies, the authors recommend that all dogs in rabies endemic regions, including those less than three months of age, are vaccinated with high quality, inactivated vaccine.Funding for the study in Zenzele was provided by the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) and World Animal Protection (WAP). Funding for the study in Tanzania was provided by the RCVS Small Grant Programme and the University of Edinburgh Small Grant Scholarship Program. Dog vaccines for the Serengeti study were donated by MSD Animal Health. Partial funding for the APHA was provided by the UK Department for Environment and Rural Affairs (Project SV3500). JW receives support from the Alborada Trust and the Research and Policy for Infectious Disease Dynamics Program of the Science and Technology Directorate, Department of Homeland Security, Fogarty International Centre, National Institute of Health.This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from BMJ Group via http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/vr.10297

Rabies-Related Knowledge and Practices Among Persons At Risk of Bat Exposures in Thailand

Rabies is a fatal encephalitis caused by lyssaviruses. Evidence of lyssavirus circulation has recently emerged in Southeast Asian bats. We surveyed persons regularly exposed to bats and bat habitats in Thailand to assess rabies‐related knowledge and practices. Targeted groups included guano miners, bat hunters, game wardens, and residents/personnel at Buddhist temples where mass bat roosting occurs. Of the 106 people interviewed, 11 (10%) identified bats as a source of rabies. History of a bat bite/scratch was reported by 29 (27%), and 38 (36%) expressed either that they would do nothing or that they did not know what they would do in response to a bat bite. Guano miners were less likely than other groups to indicate animal bites as a mechanism of transmission (68% vs. 90%, p=0.03) and were less likely to say they would respond appropriately to a bat bite or scratch (61% vs. 27%, p=0.003). These findings indicate a need for educational outreach in Thailand to raise awareness of bat rabies, promote exposure prevention, and ensure health‐seeking behaviors for bat‐inflicted wounds, particularly among at‐risk groups

Novel Vaccines to Human Rabies

Rabies, the most fatal of all infectious diseases, remains a major public health problem in developing countries, claiming the lives of an estimated 55,000 people each year. Most fatal rabies cases, with more than half of them in children, result from dog bites and occur among low-income families in Southeast Asia and Africa. Safe and efficacious vaccines are available to prevent rabies. However, they have to be given repeatedly, three times for pre-exposure vaccination and four to five times for post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP). In cases of severe exposure, a regimen of vaccine combined with a rabies immunoglobulin (RIG) preparation is required. The high incidence of fatal rabies is linked to a lack of knowledge on the appropriate treatment of bite wounds, lack of access to costly PEP, and failure to follow up with repeat immunizations. New, more immunogenic but less costly rabies virus vaccines are needed to reduce the toll of rabies on human lives. A preventative vaccine used for the immunization of children, especially those in high incidence countries, would be expected to lower fatality rates. Such a vaccine would have to be inexpensive, safe, and provide sustained protection, preferably after a single dose. Novel regimens are also needed for PEP to reduce the need for the already scarce and costly RIG and to reduce the number of vaccine doses to one or two. In this review, the pipeline of new rabies vaccines that are in pre-clinical testing is provided and an opinion on those that might be best suited as potential replacements for the currently used vaccines is offered

Comparative proteomic profiling of Mycobacterium tuberculosis and the Thai vaccine strain Mycobacterium bovis Bacille Calmette–Guerin Tokyo172: Diverse biomarker candidates for species differentiation

Background: Bacille Calmette–Guerin (BCG)-related complications can occur in vaccinated children. Comparison of the composition of cellular proteins of virulent Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) H37Rv with of attenuated Mycobacterium bovis BCG Tokyo172 vaccine strain used in Thailand and identify protein candidates of value for differentiation between the two mycobacterial species may facilitate the diagnosis of etiologic agent of mycobacterial disease in vaccinated children, as most cases have been believed to have originated from BCG vaccine. Materials and Methods: The two-dimensional electrophoresis (2DE) proteomic profiles of cellular proteins from the Thai vaccine strain M. bovis BCG Tokyo172 and MTB were compared and the matched spots in 2DE gels were submitted to mass spectrometry analysis. Results: There were a number of similar protein contents with different intensity or position between MTB and M. bovis BCG Tokyo172. A higher expression of some immunogenic proteins was shown in BGG Tokyo172 when compared to MTB, while some were shown the opposite pattern. Conclusions: Proteomic approach reveals key proteins participating in different species of Mycobacteria, and may be useful for discrimination between MTB and the BCG Tokyo172 infection