Is it true that too many Chinese people take rabies vaccines?

The recent vaccine incident has caused a stir. While people are paying attention to the quality of vaccines, they have also begun to raise the topic of vaccine abuse again. Some self-media articles put forward this view: "To be blunt, the propaganda of rabies in China is a huge scam, the result of cooperation between vaccine companies and some bad media and so-called experts!" These articles caused quite a stir in the circle of friends. The sensation makes people feel that there is a conspiracy in many vaccinations of Chinese people, which is the result of misleading propaganda by doctors or officials. So someone asked: Do Chinese people really get too many rabies vaccines?

The answer is: not really.

Vaccine waste is inevitable for disease prevention

We vaccinate just in case, and the result of vaccination is likely to be that we will not encounter most of the diseases in our lives, so we can It is said to be "wasted", but just like when we buy insurance, everyone wants their insurance to be "wasted" and does not want to have the opportunity to use this insurance.

Whether vaccines are a waste can only be understood in hindsight. The key to the problem is that it is difficult for us to know in advance which diseases of which people do not need to be prevented by vaccination, unless it is a disease like smallpox that has been eliminated on a global scale. diseases, or infectious diseases that can be eradicated with treatment (such as hepatitis C), otherwise we can only hope for a vaccine. The vaccination strategy is aimed at large groups of people, and it is difficult to adopt individualized plans. Therefore, prevention and control strategies can only be formulated based on the situation of most people, and then focus on special groups (such as pregnant women, the elderly, and those with underlying diseases). persons with congenital or acquired immune deficiencies).

Therefore, "more than 99% of vaccines are unnecessary" is correct nonsense. And this kind of waste is not a phenomenon unique to China, it also exists in developed countries.

Prevention after rabies exposure requires 4 to 5 shots of vaccine. The vaccine consumption is large, and the direct and indirect costs are high. How to select the people who really need to be vaccinated and reduce unnecessary waste has also been a concern. Focus. However, due to the special nature of rabies, it is very difficult to further optimize the vaccination strategy, because no one is willing to take risks. If a preventable disease causes tragedy due to vaccination delays, no one can bear the pressure. Therefore, some experts pointed out: Considering the 100% case fatality rate of rabies, economic indicators must not be used to measure whether it is worth it.

Vaccination is an effective way to prevent disease

The World Health Organization (WHO) points out that a successful rabies control program consists of three pillars: community participation; education, public awareness and large-scale dog control Vaccination; and in case of bitesget treatment later.

In the WHO Southeast Asia Region, many countries have carried out elimination activities. For example, Bangladesh launched a rabies elimination program in 2010 and adopted measures such as managing dog bites, large-scale dog vaccination, and increasing free vaccine supply. , causing human rabies deaths to drop by 50% between 2010 and 2013.

The World Health Organization plans to eliminate human deaths caused by dog-mediated rabies by 2030. To achieve this task, we must strengthen the promotion of rabies prevention and control strategies and strengthen the publicity of rabies knowledge. Therefore, the main problem in rabies prevention now is still insufficient attention, rather than over-publicity.

Do you need to be vaccinated if you are licked by a cat or dog or come into contact with a rabies patient?

Some media use data from the United States and other Western countries to argue that “dog bites, cat licks, dog Licking and contact with rabies patients in the hospital have a probability of incidence of up to 1/100,000." Therefore, "post-exposure treatment is usually not necessary." However, this statement intentionally or unintentionally ignores that the above situation is limited to "non-rabies endemic areas". Then there was a question: "Do I need to be vaccinated against rabies within 24 hours after being bitten by a dog?"

The answer given is also the wrong answer we are most worried about - "The treatment method after a dog bite should refer to the '10-day observation method' given by the WHO. After the wound is treated and disinfected, the biting cat or dog should be isolated. Observation, if the cat or dog does not die within 10 days after biting a human, it proves that there is no rabies virus in their saliva when they bite the human, and there is no need to vaccinate.” Such misleading is actually very dangerous. Experts dare not widely publicize the "10-day observation method". Part of the reason is that they are afraid that self-media will misunderstand the "10-day observation method" so self-righteously that it will delay the timing of vaccination.

So, is it necessary to get a rabies vaccine within 24 hours after being bitten by a dog?

The answer is yes, and don’t think that you can sit back and relax if you get vaccinated within 24 hours. Vaccination after exposure should be done as quickly as possible, because once the virus binds to a person's nerves, vaccination cannot guarantee successful prevention. If the bite site is the nerve-dense head, face, or neck, the time left for people to vaccinate will be shorter. Therefore, if these parts are exposed and other parts are severely exposed, rabies immune globulin injections are needed to ensure the success rate of prevention. . In addition, even if it exceeds 24 hours after exposure, as long as you have not yet become ill, you should actively get vaccinated for post-exposure prophylaxis.

But under the current situation, we must not rely on vaccines to eliminateThe concept of vaccine waste is blindly exaggerated due to the huge consumption. After rabies exposure, if the health of the animal cannot be determined, it must be vaccinated as soon as possible.