Wilde H, Chutivongse S
Queen Saovabha Memorial Institute of the Thai Red Cross Society, Bangkok.
Am J Trop Med Hyg. 1990 Feb;42(2):175-8. doi: 10.4269/ajtmh.1990.42.175.
Four hundred nineteen patients exposed to rabies in Thailand were treated with equine rabies immune globulin (ERIG) manufactured by Sclavo of Italy, a product also licensed in the United States of America. They were followed for a minimum of 1 month after ERIG injection and rabies vaccine administration. Adverse serum sickness-like reactions were noted in 15 patients (3.58%). These were clinically acceptable and only 1 of these patients required corticosteroid therapy and short term hospitalization for serum sickness. ERIG is approximately 1/10 of the cost of human rabies immune globulin (HRIG), which is not generally available in developing countries. ERIG is a safe and underutilized essential biological when HRIG is not affordable or available.
