Very young or small children may have the vaccine injected into the upper leg thigh muscle. If you are a veterinarian, work with animals, or will be going to a country where rabies is common, you are at risk for exposure to the rabies virus.
If you are getting the vaccine because you are at risk of being exposed to rabies, you will receive 3 doses on 3 different days within a 1-month period. If you have already received the vaccine in the past and have been exposed to the rabies virus, you will need to get 2 doses on 2 different days within a 1-month period. If you have not yet received the vaccine and were exposed to the rabies virus, you will need a total of 5 doses on 5 different days within a 1-month period.
You will also receive a shot of rabies immune globulin. In order for the rabies vaccine to work properly, it is very important that you do not miss any doses. Keep your appointments with your doctor. It is very important that your doctor check you or your child's progress at regular visits to make sure that this vaccine is working properly.
Blood tests may be needed to check for unwanted effects. This medicine is made from donated human blood. There is a very small risk for the transmission of viral diseases. Human donors and donated blood are both tested for viruses to keep the transmission risk low. Talk with your doctor about this risk if you are concerned.
Do not take other medicines unless they have been discussed with your doctor. This includes prescription or nonprescription over-the-counter [OTC] medicines and herbal or vitamin supplements. Along with its needed effects, a medicine may cause some unwanted effects. Although not all of these side effects may occur, if they do occur they may need medical attention. Some side effects may occur that usually do not need medical attention. These side effects may go away during treatment as your body adjusts to the medicine.
Also, your health care professional may be able to tell you about ways to prevent or reduce some of these side effects. Check with your health care professional if any of the following side effects continue or are bothersome or if you have any questions about them:. Other side effects not listed may also occur in some patients.
If you notice any other effects, check with your healthcare professional. Doctors take that extra precaution because once rabies symptoms develop, the mortality rate is nearly percent. Edit Close. Log In. Myth busted: Rabies shots not painful as in past. Share this. These symptoms get progressively worse a week later with disorientation, hallucinations, unusual behavior, hyperactivity and difficulty swallowing.
The final stage of rabies includes paralysis, coma and, ultimately, death. Rabies is contracted by exposure to the saliva of an infected animal. Any mammal can get rabies, but the most commonly infected animals in the United States are raccoons, skunks, bats and foxes. Rabies can be transmitted if a bite from an infected animal penetrates the skin. Rabies can also be transmitted if an infected animal licks an open wound, cut or scratch, or if the animal licks the mouth, nose or eyes.
Simply petting a rabid animal will not transmit rabies. If you or a family member is bitten by a rabid animal, you should thoroughly clean the wound and then call the local health department or a local infectious disease expert in a hospital to determine which animals in the region are likely to transmit rabies.
But generally, in the United States, the following guidelines can serve as a good rule of thumb:. Mice, rats, squirrels, rabbits, birds and chipmunks generally do not carry rabies. There has been no record of reptiles, amphibians or fish ever becoming infected with or transmitting rabies.
Wild animals, such as raccoons, skunks, foxes, and bats may carry rabies. Unvaccinated companion animals, such as cats and dogs, may carry rabies. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention CDC has a map showing the areas of the country in which certain types of animals are considered reservoirs for rabies.
After the virus is grown in these cells, it is purified away from the cells and treated with a chemical called beta-propiolactone that completely kills the virus. The rabies vaccine is, like influenza and hepatitis A vaccines, a "killed" viral vaccine. The rabies vaccine works remarkably well.
Studies indicate that if the vaccine is given immediately and appropriately to someone who was bitten by a rabid animal, it is percent effective. Although the rabies vaccine used today does have a fairly high rate of side effects, they are generally mild:. The severe side effect of anaphylaxis has also been reported to follow vaccination in about 1 of every 10, doses of vaccine given.
This severe allergic reaction includes such symptoms as swelling of the mouth, difficulty breathing, low blood pressure or shock. Anaphylaxis usually occurs within 15 minutes after receiving the vaccine; therefore, it is a good idea to wait in the doctor's office for a little while after receiving the vaccine. In the past, the rabies vaccine, which is no longer available, required up to 30 shots and was quite painful.
The current rabies vaccine requires only four shots following a potential exposure to the virus and is much less painful. The rabies vaccine works extremely well to prevent rabies but has a fairly high rate of side effects such as sore arm, nausea, vomiting and dizziness.
The vaccine is also rarely a cause of the severe allergic reaction, anaphylaxis. No one has ever died from the current rabies vaccine.
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