Scaling up use of human and dog vaccines to prevent rabies deaths
Tens of thousands of people die from dog-mediated rabies annually. Deaths can be prevented through post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) to bite victims and disease eliminated through dog vaccination. We developed epidemiological and economic models to investigate the impact of policy change in relation to PEP use and dog vaccination. We predict >1 million deaths will occur in Gavi-eligible rabies-endemic countries from 2020-2035, under the status quo. However, improved access to PEP according to the latest WHO position could prevent almost 500,000 deaths over this time horizon. This strategy could reach over 17 million more people with the same volume of vaccine by using more efficient intradermal regimens, making it an extremely cost-effective intervention. Moreover, in combination with scaled up dog vaccination human rabies deaths could be eliminated by 2030. We conclude that investing in post-exposure vaccines would be an extremely cost-effective way to substantially reduce the burden of rabies and catalyse dog vaccination efforts to eliminate the disease.
Katie Hampson completed her PhD at Princeton University in 2007, where she established a contact tracing study to investigate rabies transmission dynamics in northern Tanzania. She returned to the UK on a Wellcome Trust Fellowship and continued her rabies work with new field sites in Southern Tanzania. She joined the University of Glasgow in 2009 with continued Wellcome Trust support. She leads field research in Tanzania and works with a network of collaborators on fundamental and operational research.
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