To help prevent rabies:
- Avoid contact with animals you don't know.
- Get vaccinated if you work in a high-risk occupation or travel to countries with a high rate of rabies.
- Make sure your pets receive the proper immunizations. Dogs and cats should get rabies vaccines by 4 months of age, followed by a booster shot 1 year later, and another one every 1 or 3 years, depending on the type of vaccine used.
- Follow quarantine regulations on importing dogs and other mammals in disease-free countries.
References
Rupprecht CE, Briggs D, Brown CM, et al. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Use of a reduced (4-dose) vaccine schedule for postexposure prophylaxis to prevent human rabies: recommendations of the advisory committee on immunization practices. MMWR Recomm Rep. 2010 Mar 19;59(RR-2):1-9. Erratum in: MMWR Recomm Rep. 2010 Apr 30;59(16):493.
Bassin SL, Rupprecht CE, Bleck TP. Rhabdoviruses. In: Mandell GL, Bennett JE, Dolin R, eds. Principles and Practice of Infectious Diseases. 7th ed. Philadelphia, Pa: Elsevier Churchill Livingstone; 2009:chap 163.
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Review Date: 02/10/2011
Reviewed By: David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, A.D.A.M., Inc., and Jatin
M. Vyas, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor in Medicine, Harvard Medical
School; Assistant in Medicine, Division of Infectious Disease,
Department of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital.
A.D.A.M., Inc. is accredited by URAC, also known as the American Accreditation HealthCare Commission (www.urac.org)
