Mary Warrell and colleagues, from the University of Oxford, tested the new vaccines against the current, standard vaccine. Current, WHO approved vaccines are prohibitively expensive - in Africa a course can cost US$40 - the equivalent of 50 days wages in many areas.

There are two more economical vaccine regimens, which involve the injection of small amounts of the vaccine intradermally at two or eight sites on the first day of the course. In the eight shot method, a larger dose is used, thus requiring only one initial day of shots; with the two shot method, two administration days are necessary. Subsequent booster shots, available in several locations, complete the vaccination. While these methods are economically more viable in these regions, various practical or perceived difficulties have prevented the methods from being adopted widely.

Researchers conducted the trial with a vaccine that is already in common use, and vaccinated healthy volunteers to compare antibody levels induced by the new method with those induced by each of the old two site and four site intradermal regimens, as well as the "gold standard" intramuscular regimen that is accepted internationally. They found that each of the more economical methods was just as effective as the intramuscular method at stimulating anti-rabies antibodies.

The simplified method apparently has advantages over all three of these methods because it needs fewer clinic visits and has a wider safety margin, even if given by less experienced people.

[29 Apr 2008 12:02]

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