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Day 0 — first booster dose

Receive one intramuscular dose of rabies vaccine in the deltoid muscle of the upper arm.

Details

The booster regimen is one dose on day 0 and one on day 3, of any modern rabies vaccine grown in cell culture. Rabies immune globulin is not given.

Watch the wound. Check the wound at least once a day for the first week. Return to the clinic if you see redness spreading outwards from the wound, swelling, pus, increasing pain, or develop a fever above 38°C (100.4°F). Dog-bite wounds become infected often, and infection can develop within 24 hours. Clinicians may prescribe preventive antibiotics for higher-risk bites — Category III wounds, bites to the hands, face, or joints, deep puncture wounds, wounds older than eight hours by the time of presentation, and bites in people who are immunocompromised. Amoxicillin-clavulanate (sold as Augmentin and similar brands) is typically the first choice.

Confirm tetanus protection. Animal bites are considered tetanus-prone wounds. If your last tetanus shot was more than five years ago, or you are not sure, ask the clinician for a tetanus-diphtheria (Td) or tetanus toxoid (TT) booster.

Keep the day 3 appointment. Note the date in your calendar now. If you cannot make it, call the clinic to reschedule — do not skip.