[e-drug] Availability of Modern Cell Culture Rabies Vaccine

["Dr Mehata" <dharmeshmehata@yahoo.co.in>]

E-DRUG: Availability of Modern Cell Culture Rabies Vaccine
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Dear All,
   
  According to WHO, more than three billion people are at risk for rabies in over 85 countries and territories worldwide, and about 50,000?60,000 human deaths from rabies are estimated to occur annually, even though effective vaccines for postexposure prophylaxis (PEP) are available and over 10 million individuals actually receive rabies PEP each year. PEP therapy has become safe and virtually painless due to the availability modern cell culture vaccine recently. Unfortunately in developing countries including india modern cell culture vaccine therapy is not economical to majority of the victims and therefore receiving unsafe nerve tissue vaccine (NTV) produced from rabies virus infected sheep brain tissue. 
   
  Recently In India also many public sector companies discontinued the production of nerve tissue vaccine to phase out nerve tissue vaccine following the recommendations from  WHO due to adverse reactions. Only Three  companies are producing modern cell culture rabies vaccine. They are not increased their capacities to meets the demand in view of phase out of nerve tissue vaccine.

  Many rabies treatment centres are have been reeling under acute shortage of modern cell culture rabies vaccine for the last couple of months.
   
  To solve this problem Indian government has been introduced Intradermal therapy for post exposure rabies therapy, which requires less vaccine. Eventhough many rabies treatment centres are facing acute shortage of rabies vaccine. 
   
  In this contrast, I would like to know the situation of rabies vaccine availability in developing countries in view of recommendation by WHO to phase out nerve tissue vaccines by December 2006. Are there any country still producing nerve tissue vaccine?
   
Thanking you.
   
Dr.Dharmesh Mehata M.B.B.S
Jaipur, Rajistan, India
dharmeshmehata@yahoo.co.in