[Immunogenicity, efficacy and reactogenicity of a human diploid cell strain (HDCS) rabies vaccine in man;...

Since 1973 a total of 365 individuals between 4 and 74 years of age were vaccinated with the HDCS-rabies-vaccine produced by Mérieux/Lyon. Only minor local side reactions were observed in some patients. No adverse systemic reactions due to the vaccine occurred in any of the vaccinees. Seroconversion was observed in 100% of the vaccinated subjects. Neutralizing antibodies could be demonstrated in all 365 vaccinees in titers ranging from 1:10 to 1:2238 (0.35 to 72.5 I.U) employing 200 LD 50 of rabies virus in the mouse neutralization test. The persistence of antibodies has been followed up for 2 years. The efficacy of the HDCS-vaccine in post-exposure treatment proved to be reliable. Sixteen patients suffered bites, scratches, cuts und abrasions by proven rabid animals. Another 8 patients had come into close contact with saliva of confirmed rabid animals. None of these patients developed clinical rabies during an observation period now covering 1-3 years. The HDCS-rabies-vaccine, thus, proved to be well tolerated, innocuous and highly protective. Under those aspects, this vaccine must be considered superior to the duck-embryo-vaccine currently licensed in Germany and should be preferred for propylactic and post-exposure vaccination as well. The postexposure schedule elaborated in our laboratory has been adopted and recommended by a WHO expert group on rabies. The data presented here constitute the first report on post-exposure application of HDCS-rabies-vaccine in man.