Rabies: First Effective Single-Dose Treatment for Symptomatic Disease

Infections with the rabies virus and related lyssaviruses are generally fatal once the virus reaches the central nervous system and the first symptoms appear. A study tested a therapy based on a monoclonal antibody in mice, which proved to be an effective treatment for rabies, even after the virus had reached the nervous system. Neutralizing the virus after the disease has already manifested marks a major turning point in the fight against rabies. Scientists evaluated the therapeutic efficacy in mice of a human monoclonal antibody (mAb) against lyssavirus infections, such as rabies. According to the study , a single dose of this antibody, named F11, protected mice from a lethal inoculation of the rabies virus. However, its anti-lyssavirus efficacy is not sufficient on its own to protect infected animals; a host immune response—via the production of CD4 T cells—is necessary to control the infection. This antibody limits the viral load and prompts the immune system to produce small cells that, once they cross the blood-brain barrier, neutralize the virus directly in the brain and spinal cord, which explains its effectiveness even at an advanced stage of the disease. Although the rabies infection was not completely eliminated from the brains of the treated mice, the clinical signs of the disease disappeared and the virus was maintained at a low and stable level for at least four months after infection. Thus, this therapy appears to provide a functional treatment for rabies in this animal model. The next step will therefore be to test the new treatment in humans and launch the first clinical trials. If these results lead to an effective therapy in the coming years, it could revolutionize the management of rabies in countries where post-exposure vaccination is virtually impossible and the number of infectious human contacts is very high, such as in India or Indonesia. Rabies kills 60,000 people every year, mainly in Africa and Asia. In the United States, where the disease is present, however, no human deaths have been reported because preventive treatments are readily available.     https://vetitude.fr/la-rage-tue-toutes-les-10-minutes-dans-le-monde/   https://vetitude.fr/rage-lelimination-mondiale-de-la-maladie-est-possible-avec-des-moyens-a-la-hauteur-de-lenjeu/   https://vetitude.fr/videos/non-la-rage-nest-pas-un-risque-sanitaire-du-passe/