Efficacy of Purified Vero Cell Rabies Vaccine (PVRV) under the Zagreb Regimen in Iran

Despite the effective pre- and post-exposure treatments, at least 60,000 deaths from rabies occur worldwide every year. Post-exposure treatment is considered as one of the most significant measures for preventing human deaths in exposed individuals. The 2-1-1 rabies post-exposure treatment schedule known as Zagreb regimen is an abbreviated immunization plan in which a tissue culture rabies vaccine is administered intramuscularly at two sites on day 0 and at one site on days 7 and 21. In this study the efficacy of rabies vaccine administration under Zagreb regimen in an Iranian group of patients attending Pasteur Institute of Iran was evaluated. Rabies neutralizing antibody titer was measured in 75 serum samples collected from 25 volunteers receiving post exposure treatment by rapid fluorescent focus inhibition test (RFFIT), and ELISA. All patients were negative for rabies antibody in both ELISA and FRRIT tests on day 0. A satisfactory rabies virus antibody response with the titer of ≥0.5 IU/ml was detected in all patients on day 21 and two weeks after the completion of vaccination (day 35). Rabies immunization with rabies Vero-cell vaccine (PVRV) under the 2-1-1 schedule (Zagreb regimen) could result in an adequate immune response without any adverse effect. However a more comprehensive comparative study is underway to confirm these findings.