Systematic Booster after Rabies Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis to Alleviate Rabies Antibody Monitoring in Individuals at Risk of Occupational Exposure
Perrine Parize,
Jérémie Sommé,
Laura Schaeffer,
Florence Ribadeau-Dumas,
Sheherazade Benabdelkader,
Agnès Durand,
Arnaud Tarantola,
Johann Cailhol,
Julia Goesch,
Lauriane Kergoat,
Anne-Sophie Le Guern,
Marie-Laurence Mousel,
Laurent Dacheux,
Paul-Henri Consigny,
Arnaud Fontanet,
Beata Francuz,
Hervé Bourhy
Affiliations
Perrine Parize
Institut Pasteur, Unit Lyssavirus Epidemiology and Neuropathology, National Reference Center for Rabies and WHO Collaborating Centre for Reference and Research on Rabies, 75015 Paris, France
Jérémie Sommé
Institut Pasteur, Occupational Health Department, 75015 Paris, France
Laura Schaeffer
Institut Pasteur, Emerging Diseases Epidemiology Unit, Centre for Global Health Research and Education, 75015 Paris, France
Florence Ribadeau-Dumas
Institut Pasteur, Unit Lyssavirus Epidemiology and Neuropathology, National Reference Center for Rabies and WHO Collaborating Centre for Reference and Research on Rabies, 75015 Paris, France
Sheherazade Benabdelkader
Institut Pasteur, Unit Lyssavirus Epidemiology and Neuropathology, National Reference Center for Rabies and WHO Collaborating Centre for Reference and Research on Rabies, 75015 Paris, France
Agnès Durand
Laboratoire Cerballiance, 75017 Paris, France
Arnaud Tarantola
Institut Pasteur, Unit Lyssavirus Epidemiology and Neuropathology, National Reference Center for Rabies and WHO Collaborating Centre for Reference and Research on Rabies, 75015 Paris, France
Johann Cailhol
Institut Pasteur, Centre Médical, Centre d’Infectiologie Necker-Pasteur, 75015 Paris, France
Julia Goesch
Institut Pasteur, Centre Médical, Centre d’Infectiologie Necker-Pasteur, 75015 Paris, France
Lauriane Kergoat
Institut Pasteur, Unit Lyssavirus Epidemiology and Neuropathology, National Reference Center for Rabies and WHO Collaborating Centre for Reference and Research on Rabies, 75015 Paris, France
Anne-Sophie Le Guern
Institut Pasteur, Laboratory of the Medical Center, 75015 Paris, France
Marie-Laurence Mousel
Institut Pasteur, Occupational Health Department, 75015 Paris, France
Laurent Dacheux
Institut Pasteur, Unit Lyssavirus Epidemiology and Neuropathology, National Reference Center for Rabies and WHO Collaborating Centre for Reference and Research on Rabies, 75015 Paris, France
Paul-Henri Consigny
Institut Pasteur, Centre Médical, Centre d’Infectiologie Necker-Pasteur, 75015 Paris, France
Arnaud Fontanet
Institut Pasteur, Emerging Diseases Epidemiology Unit, Centre for Global Health Research and Education, 75015 Paris, France
Beata Francuz
Institut Pasteur, Occupational Health Department, 75015 Paris, France
Hervé Bourhy
Institut Pasteur, Unit Lyssavirus Epidemiology and Neuropathology, National Reference Center for Rabies and WHO Collaborating Centre for Reference and Research on Rabies, 75015 Paris, France
Pre-exposure rabies prophylaxis (PrEP) is recommended for people at frequent or increased risk of professional exposure to lyssavirus (including rabies virus). PrEP provides protection against unrecognized exposure. After the primary vaccination, one’s immune response against rabies may decline over time. We aimed to evaluate the immune response to rabies in individuals immunized for occupational reasons before and after a booster dose of the rabies vaccine. With this aim, we retrospectively documented factors associated with an inadequate response in individuals vaccinated for occupational purposes. Our findings analyzed data from 498 vaccinated individuals and found that 17.2% of participants had an inadequate antibody titration documented after their primary vaccination without the booster, while inadequate response after an additional booster of the vaccine was evidenced in 0.5% of tested participants. This study showed that a single booster dose of vaccine after PrEP conferred a high and long-term immune response in nearly all individuals except for rare, low responders. A systematic rabies booster after primary vaccination may result in alleviating the monitoring strategy of post-PrEP antibody titers among exposed professionals.
