A new highly effective rabies vaccine

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According to scientists at Oxford University, tens of thousands could be saved globally

Artist rendering of the rabies pathogen: a highly effective new vaccine (Photo: ox.ac.uk)

Oxford (pte003/08/01/2022/06:10) –

The ChAdOx2 RabG rabies vaccine was shown to be safe in phase I clinical trials and elicited a robust immune response in those vaccinated. Researchers at Oxford University got the vaccine http://ox.ac.uk It has now been developed and tested in humans for the first time. Twelve volunteers participated in the experiment. Three of them received a low dose, three received a medium dose, and six received a high dose. All who received a medium or high dose developed rabies neutralizing antibodies above the WHO protection threshold within two months.

Only minor side effects

According to experts, there were no serious adverse events during the study. However, as expected, there were short-term side effects such as pain in the injection area. People who received medium and high doses were mainly affected. In addition, researchers are evaluating long-term immune responses. Six of seven recipients of medium and high doses who returned for additional follow-up one year after vaccination still had neutralizing antibody levels above the protection threshold. A one-time vaccination is sufficient to obtain a lasting effect.

“The vaccine performed better than we expected,” says researcher Sandy Douglas of the university’s Jenner Institute. The rabies vaccines in use today are very expensive and many require booster doses. “We are very confident that expanded trials in countries hard-hit by rabies will demonstrate that this new vaccine will enable routine, affordable, single-dose vaccinations against this devastating disease,” Douglas added. There are tens of thousands of deaths from infection with rabies every year worldwide.

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