A comparison of a WI-38 vaccine and duck embryo vaccine for preexposure rabies prophylaxis.

Two types of rabies vaccine, WI-38 vaccine (WRV) and Duck Embryo Vaccine (DEV) were compared in rabies preexposure prophylaxis. Once group of veterinary students received four doses of DEV, a second group received four doses of WRV, and a third group received two doses of WRV. Adverse reactions were found to be similar for all three gorups. The antibody responses, however, differed markedly: the mean neutralizing titer after four doses of DEV was 1:75, after four doses of WRV was 1:1517, but was only 1:164 after two doses of WRV. All students who received three or four doses of WRV developed high titers of rabies antibody, making this vaccine very desirable for preexposure prophylaxis.