A Note on World’s First Novel Three-Dose Anti-Rabies Vaccine for Humans
Aayush Yadav*
*Veterinary Assistant Surgeon, Sirpur, Mahasamund-493445, Chhattisgarh, India
Abstract
“ThRabis”, a three-dose anti-rabies vaccine is launched as a substitute for the five-dose anti-rabies vaccine to provide the full course of the vaccine in a short period and limit the number of rabies cases to zero in India by the year 2030.
Keywords: ThRabis, Vaccine, Anti-rabies
Introduction
Rabies is a zoonotic and fatal, acute, progressive encephalomyelitis disease of the mammals caused by the Lyssa virus of the Rhabdoviridae family. The transmission of rabies almost always occurs via introduction of virus-laden saliva into the tissues, usually by the bite of a rabid animal (mostly dogs, cats, bats, and raccoons). The victims show typical signs of CNS disturbances like behavioral changes including aggression, altered phonation, and hyper excitability, and paralysis of the throat and masseter muscles with profuse salivation, inability to swallow and hydrophobia that ultimately leads to death.
In India, animal bite around1.5 crore people every year. Ninety percent of these cases are of dog bites. Someone is bitten by a dog every two seconds in India and someone dies from rabies every 30 minutes on average. According to Business Standard (2022), of 1.5 crore people, around 20,000 people die due to the failure in completion of anti-rabies vaccine course. Similar response is recorded in the world where 59,000 people die yearly, of which most deaths are in Asia and Africa. At present, five-dose anti-rabies vaccines are available in the market by the trade names of Abhayrab, Rabipur, Vaxirab N, etc. for humans and Rabies Vet, Nobivac, etc. for animals.
ThRabis Vaccine
| Recently, Cadila Pharmaceuticals Limited Company, Ahmedabad has launched the world’s first novel three-dose recombinant nano-particle based anti-rabies vaccine “ThRabis” for humans. Aiming at the rabies-free India, the vaccine was launched with the campaign ‘One, Two, Three. Rabies |  |
Free’. All the existing anti -rabies vaccines require five injections within 28 days to complete the full regimen. Many animal-bite people fail to complete the full course of the vaccine due to their complicated dosing schedule, frequent visits to the hospital and potential loss of income associated with these visits. This leaves them unprotected and susceptible to developing rabies, which is a fatal condition. “With this three-dose innovative vaccine, many more lives will be saved.
The vaccine “ThRabis” is prepared by using Virus-Like Particle technology. The vaccine generates antibodies against rabies G protein, which leads to virus neutralisation, as well as prevents virus attachment to the cell to confer protection against rabies. Unlike five-dose vaccines, the course of ThRabis vaccine is completed within a week with post-bite doses on 0th, 3rd and 7th day. The vaccine is administered intramuscularly and is extremely convenient to doctors as it is a ‘ready to use’ vaccine and does not require reconstitution with sterile water prior to its use (Anonymous, 2022).
Conclusion
The three-dose anti-rabies vaccine “ThRabis” is a major discovery in the field of science and is aimed toward making India a rabies-free country by the year 2030.
References
- (2022). ThRabis Launch. Cadila Pharmaceuticals Limited. Assessed on April 18, 2022 at https://bit.ly/3uSLi3z.
- Business Standard. (2022). Cadila Pharma launches world’s first novel 3-dose vaccine against rabies. Business Standard. Assessed on April 18, 2022 at https://bit.ly/3uPAJOL.
https://www.pashudhanpraharee.com/faqs-on-rabies-26-100-for-veterinarian/
