[Pre-exposure rabies vaccination using a new duck embryo vaccine]

An economical, highly purified and concentrated duck embryo rabies vaccine (PDEV) was investigated in relation to pre-exposure rabies prophylaxis. The vaccine was injected subcutaneously according to the then prescribed scheme for human diploid cell rabies vaccines (HDCV). Additionally, a third dose was given on day 120. Serum anti-rabies antibody levels were determined on days 0, 56, 120, und 170. On day 56 all volunteers showed an anti-rabies antibody level of at least 1.0 IU/ml, indicating that PDEV is sufficiently immunogenic to allow its use according to the pre-exposure schedules for HDCV. Some rather low titers noted on day 120 indicate that an early booster dose or a third primary immunization dose is justified, as recently recommended by the WHO.