[Prevention of human rabies in Yugoslavia]

Over the last two decades human rabies prophylaxis in Yugoslavia was successful and not a single case of the disease was registered. However, every year there are registered cases of those injured by animals in which rabies was confirmed by laboratory evidence. In FR Yugoslavia every year 800-1000 people are vaccinated against rabies, which makes 10% of all the people injured by animals in Yugoslavia. During 1997 there were 10.266 patients injured by animals; 816 (7.95%) were vaccinated whereas 52 were injured by rabid animals or rabies-suspected animals; 662 were injured by unfamiliar or wild animals, while 102 patients were injured by familiar or preventively vaccinated animals. In other patients vaccination was avoided by a 10-day veterinarian surveillance of the dog. New literature estimated application of reduced so-called "Zagreb-2-1-1" vaccination protocol in severe injuries as unsuccessful in children because of active immune response suppression by simultaneously given immunoglobulin, and that is why this protocol must be abandoned.