A pilot study on intradermal vaccination of Japanese rabies vaccine for pre-exposure immunization

Japanese rabies vaccine, a purified chick embryo cell vaccine manufactured by Kaketsuken (PCEC-K), is normally given subcutaneously; however, this requires a large amount of vaccine, and the pre-exposure vaccination regimen requires 6 months to complete. These factors often hamper appropriate vaccination. Therefore, we examined whether this vaccine could induce adequate level of viral neutralizing antibody (VNA) when vaccinated according to the World Health Organization (WHO) intradermal regimen. Our pilot study showed that this regimen resulted in all subjects developing adequate VNA levels. Intradermal route was effective not only for pre-exposure but also for booster vaccination. The intradermal PCEC-K regimen was found to be safe and effective in inducing adequate VNA levels with the use of a smaller quantity of vaccine and within a shorter period of time.