Developments in Rabies Vaccines: The Path Traversed from Pasteur to the Modern Era of Immunization

Abstract

Rabies is a disease of antiquity and has a history spanning millennia ever since the first interactions between humans and dogs. The alarming fatalities caused by this disease have triggered rabies prevention strategies since the first century BC. There have been numerous attempts over the past 100 years to develop rabies vaccineswith the goal of preventing rabies in both humans and animals. Thepre-Pasteurian vaccinologists, paved the way for the actual history of rabies vaccines with the development of first generation vaccines. Further improvements for less reactive and more immunogenic vaccines have led to the expansion of embryo vaccines, tissue culture vaccines, cell culture vaccines, modified live vaccines, inactivated vaccines, and adjuvanted vaccines. The adventof recombinant technology and reverse genetics have given insight into the rabies viral genome and facilitated genome manipulations, which in turn led to the emergence of next-generation rabies vaccines, such as recombinant vaccines, viral vector vaccines, genetically modified vaccines, and nucleic acid vaccines. These vaccines were very helpful in overcoming the drawbacks of conventional rabies vaccines with increased immunogenicity and clinical efficacies. The path traversed in the development of rabies vaccines from Pasteur to the modern era vaccines, though, faced numerous challenges;these pioneering works have formed the cornerstone for the generation of thecurrent successful vaccines to prevent rabies. In the future, advancements in the scientific technologies and research focus will definitely lay the path for much more sophisticated vaccine candidates for rabies elimination.

'Don't Let the Problem go Unheard. Let's Get Rid of Rabies' - A Review of the Past, Present and Future Perspective of Rabies

“…Table 2 gives a detailed description of the timeline of rabies vaccines [28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35].…”

Anti-rabies in the serum of laying hens after single dose rabies vaccination: An initial observation

“…Vaccination is the most effective approach to rabies control for both animals and humans. Currently, rabies vaccines are widely available for both animals and humans with adequate quality [3]. However, rabies cases in some countries are still occurring and even increasing.…”

Tracking lethal threat: In-depth review of rabies

“…In 1881, Pasteur proved the neurotropism of viruses ( Kumar et al , 2023 ). In 1885, Pasteur invented the innovation of giving rabies vaccine, before the structure and properties of the RABV were known ( Natesan et al , 2023 ). Joseph Meister, who had been attacked by a rabid animal more violently, received the rabies vaccine for the first time that year ( Rappuoli, 2014 ).…”

“…A number of vaccines have permission to be used on pet species ( Dodds, 2021 ). There are a variety of minimum age requirements for vaccination, live attenuated or modified viral vector products, intramuscular and subcutaneous products, and vaccinations with immunological durations of 1–3 years ( Natesan et al , 2023 ). The antibody titer for the RABV is anticipated to peak within 28 days of the initial vaccination, at which point the animal can be regarded as having received the vaccine ( Overduin et al , 2020 ).…”