Key points
- Pre-exposure vaccination is recommended for persons who work directly with animals that could have rabies
- Also, those who travel to parts of the world where rabies is common and access to medical care is limited.
Pre-exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP)
Most people in the United States have a low risk of contact with an animal with rabies. However, a small subset of people is at higher risk. This inclues those who work directly with animals that could have rabies, or those who travel to parts of the world where rabies is common and access to medical care is limited. These people should receive rabies pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), a series of rabies vaccine doses given before exposure to the rabies virus.
The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) develops U.S. recommendations about how and when to use vaccines to prevent disease in the United States, including how to prevent rabies in people. ACIP updated rabies vaccine recommendations in May 2022, which are summarized below:
Updates to the ACIP recommendations to prevent human rabies, 2022
- A 2-dose PrEP schedule has replaced the 3-dose PrEP schedule to protect people from rabies for up to 3 years. Options for maintaining protection beyond 3 years are also described.
- Risk categories have been redefined into 5 risk groups.
- The minimum acceptable laboratory value (antibody titer) used to determine whether rabies vaccine booster doses are needed was revised and standardized.
- Many people for whom serial titers were recommended every 2 years now require only a one-time titer (and booster if below a certain level) OR a one-time booster.
Clinical guidance for administering PrEP to people with weakened immune systems has been outlined and includes recommendations to confirm that the vaccine was effective.
Risk category
Who this typically* affects
Recommendations
Risk category 1 Highest risk
People who work with live or concentrated rabies virus in laboratories
- 2 doses, days 0 and 7
- Check titer every 6 months
Risk category 2
People who frequently do at least one of the following: handle bats, have contact with bats, enter high-density bat environments like caves, or perform animal necropsies
- 2 doses, days 0 and 7
- Check titer every 2 years
Risk category 3
People who interact with, or are at higher risk to interact, with mammals other than bats that could be rabid, for a period longer than three years after they receive PrEP.
This group includes:
- Most veterinarians, veterinary technicians, animal control officers, wildlife biologists, rehabilitators, trappers, and spelunkers (cave explorers)
- Certain travelers to regions outside of the United States where rabies in dogs is commonly found
2 doses, days 0 and 7, plus:
- Either a one-time titer check after 1 year and up to 3 years following the first 2-dose vaccination
Or
- 1-dose booster between 3 weeks and 3 years following the first vaccine in the 2-dose vaccination
Risk category 4
Same population as risk category 3, but at a higher risk for ≤ three years after they receive PrEP
2 doses, days 0 and 7
Risk category 5 Lowest risk
General U.S. population
None
*The typical characteristics described may not include the characteristics of all activities that fall within the described risk group.
For detailed information about these recommendations, please refer to the published MMWR.