Rabies vaccination of 6‐week‐old puppies born to immunized mothers: a randomized controlled trial in a high‐mortality population of owned, free‐roaming dogs

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Authors

Arega, Sintayehu
Conan, Anne
Sabeta, Claude Taurai
Crafford, Jan Ernst
Wentzel, Jeanette Maria
Reininghaus, Bjorn
Biggs, Louise Joanne
Leisewitz, Andrew L.
Quan, Melvyn
Toka, Felix

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Publisher

MDPI

Abstract

To achieve global elimination of human rabies from dogs by 2030, evidence-based strategies for effective dog vaccination are needed. Current guidelines recommend inclusion of dogs younger than 3 months in mass rabies vaccination campaigns, although available vaccines are only recommended for use by manufacturers in older dogs, ostensibly due to concerns over interference of maternally-acquired immunity with immune response to the vaccine. Adverse effects of vaccination in this age group of dogs have also not been adequately assessed under field conditions. In a single-site, owner-blinded, randomized, placebo-controlled trial in puppies born to mothers vaccinated within the previous 18 months in a high-mortality population of owned, free-roaming dogs in South Africa, we assessed immunogenicity and effect on survival to all causes of mortality of a single dose of rabies vaccine administered at 6 weeks of age. We found that puppies did not have appreciable levels of maternally-derived antibodies at 6 weeks of age (geometric mean titer 0.065 IU/mL, 95% CI 0.061–0.069; n = 346), and that 88% (95% CI 80.7–93.3) of puppies vaccinated at 6 weeks had titers ≥0.5 IU/mL 21 days later (n = 117). Although the average effect of vaccination on survival was not statistically significant (hazard ratio [HR] 1.35, 95% CI 0.83–2.18), this effect was modified by sex (p = 0.02), with the HR in females 3.09 (95% CI 1.24–7.69) and the HR in males 0.79 (95% CI 0.41–1.53). We speculate that this effect is related to the observed survival advantage that females had over males in the unvaccinated group (HR 0.27; 95% CI 0.11–0.70), with vaccination eroding this advantage through as-yet-unknown mechanisms.

Description

Supplementary Materials: Table S1. Results of sensitivity analysis for survival analysis (6 to 13 weeks of age), considering subjects reported as lost or stolen by owners as dead (n = 22); Table S2. Results of sensitivity analysis for survival analysis (6 to 13 weeks of age), censoring subjects that reportedly died from accidents (n = 5).

Keywords

Immunogenicity, Mortality, Maternally-acquired immunity, Sex, Nonspecific effects of vaccines

Sustainable Development Goals

Citation

Arega, S., Conan, A., Sabeta, C.T. et al. 2020, 'Rabies vaccination of 6‐week‐old puppies born to immunized mothers: a randomized controlled trial in a high‐mortality population of owned, free‐roaming dogs', Tropical Medicine and Infectious Disease 5(1): 45, doi: 10.3390/tropicalmed5010045.