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Rabies Vaccine After Dog Bite: How Quickly Should You Act?
- Dr Ravi Gowda
- Jun 23
- 6 min read
Updated: 3 days ago
With the recent death of a British woman from rabies after scratch from a puppy in Morocco, the importance of rabies vaccination before you travel has never been more important. If you’ve been bitten or scratched abroad, even if you don’t know the rabies status of the animal, you might still need a rabies jab.
Nearly 60,000 people die of rabies in more than 150 countries every year, of which 99% are from dog bites. The World Health Organisation says the real number of cases are much higher as many go under-reported.
In this article we’ll run through:
Understanding Rabies and Transmission
Rabies and how it’s spread
So what is rabies and do we have rabies in the UK? Rabies is a virus that infects your nervous system following contact with the saliva of affected animals. It’s nearly always through the bite or scratch of an infected dog. In some regions like North America and Europe, raccoons, skunks, bats, foxes and bats are important reservoirs of the rabies virus. In the UK, the rabies virus has been found in serotine, Daubenton’s and very rarely, pipistrelle bats. Thankfully, rabies has been eradicated in domestic and other wild animals in the UK.
Why is it so lethal? How prompt medical attention after a bite or scratch can save your life.
As we’ve already discussed, rabies is widespread throughout the world but especially common in Asia and Africa. Your risk depends on the country and the type of animal exposure. Before deciding whether you need a rabies jab, we’ll usually make a ‘composite’ risk by combining the country and the animal species. Let’s take for example, you’re in the USA; this would be classified as low risk. However, if you’ve been unlucky enough to be bitten a racoon then your overall rabies would be considered as “high”.
We’ll also consider the type of exposure you’ve had. If you’ve bitten by a dog in, say Turkey or Morocco, and it breaks your skin and bleeds then that’s high risk (Category 3) exposure. In this situation, you’ll definitely be offered rabies vaccination and immunoglobulins (antibodies). If it’s a just scratch or you’ve been licked over broken skin (like an insect bite) then you’ll still need to rabies vaccination as there is still a risk. We refer to this as a Category 2 exposure.
Symptoms and progression of rabies in humans
Once you’re exposed, the rabies virus starts to multiply in your muscles and then slowly migrates up your peripheral nerves. It eventually reaches the spinal cord and then ultimately your brain. Once you develop symptoms, rabies is nearly always fatal and sadly there’s no treatment.
The symptoms of rabies usually take several weeks to develop after being bitten. However, it can be less than a week or even more than 2 years depending on where you’ve bitten.
Symptoms include numbness or tingling where you’ve bitten or scratched, hallucinations, feeling very anxious, difficulty in swallowing or paralysis.
Remember, rabies is entirely preventable even after you’ve bitten or scratched, providing you seek urgent medical advice and get the rabies jab before you develop symptoms.
Once you have symptoms of rabies, it’s usually too late as there is no specific treatment.
What to Do After a Dog Bite
Immediate wound care: cleaning and disinfection
If you get bitten or scratched by a dog or cat whether in the UK or abroad, you’ll need to clean the wound. Squeeze the affected area and allow it to bleed and wash under a tap with soap or clean with antiseptic/ 70% alcohol. Avoid scrubbing/rubbing into the wound.
When to seek medical advice
You should seek medical advice after all bites because although domestic animals in the UK don’t carry rabies, the wound can get infected and cause bacterial sepsis (a severe infection in the bloodstream) and you might need antibiotics.
What your healthcare professional (HCP) will want to know
If you’ve had a bite or scratch, your doctor or nurse will want to know the country, animal and location of the bite. How deep was the bite/scratch? Was it provoked? How is the animal now? Your HCP will undertake a careful risk assessment in consultation with the Rabies and Immunoglobulin Service (RIgS) in the UK and then make a decision on Rabies Post-exposure Treatment.
When to Seek the Rabies Vaccine
Although it takes time to develop the symptoms of rabies (usually several weeks to months) it can take less than a week. So you should seek prompt medical attention as soon as possible, ideally within a day of the bite. This is more important if you’ve never had a pre-exposure course of rabies vaccination previously. If you’ve already had your rabies jabs then you’ll still need a couple of doses but you’ve got time and it’s more of a precaution.
Remember, there’s no time limit for the post-exposure rabies vaccination. This is because it can sometimes take years after the bite/scratch before you develop symptoms and so there’s always time. The British woman who died of rabies was scratched/bitten in February 2025 but developed symptoms several months later and died in June.
Rabies Vaccine and Treatment Protocols
Rabies vaccination can be given as:
Prevention - Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PreP) ie before exposure, or
Post-exposure treatment (PET) - after you’ve bitten or scratched
We would always recommend a careful travel risk assessment from a specialist travel health clinic like Health Klinix before you travel. Following this assessment, we’ll be able to guide you as to whether PreP is appropriate for your journey.
An overview of the rabies vaccination schedules can be found on our rabies vaccination page. The rabies vaccination is highly effective but it's important for you to complete the immunisation schedule for it to fully protect you.
Aside from pain and inflammation at the site of the injection, occasional joint pains and headache, the rabies jab is generally very well tolerated.
To summarise, here are the key points:
You should be considered for the rabies vaccination if you've been:
bitten or scratched by an animal abroad in a country with rabies
licked around the nose, mouth or eyes abroad in a country with rabies
scratched or bitten by a bat in the UK
Rabies FAQs
Will the rabies vaccination protect me?
The rabies vaccination is highly effective in preventing rabies provided you complete the course.
But isn’t it true that having the rabies jab before travel only buys me a bit of time?
No, this isn't correct. There's never been a case of anyone developing rabies following pre-exposure vaccination. However, we still recommend you seek advice following an exposure, as you will still need two doses as a precaution. This is just in case you haven't produced enough antibodies from the initial course. As it's such a lethal disease, we don't want to take any chances.
How quickly should I have the vaccine after I've been bitten?
Prompt treatment is vital, ideally within a day, as symptoms are universally fatal and can develop within less than a week.
What will happen if I get bitten and I haven't been vaccinated?
It's important to stay calm and not panic. See our section above on "What to do after a dog bite". Rabies can still be prevented provided you seek prompt medical attention.
What if the dog is known and vaccinated?
Even if a dog has been vaccinated, you should still have rabies jabs if there's a risk
Is the rabies vaccine safe?
We've been administering the vaccine for more than a decade and it's an extremely well tolerated and safe vaccine. Serious side effects are very rare (we’ve not had any).
Which animals commonly carry rabies?
In fact, any mammal can carry rabies, however, it's mostly dogs and cats. 99% of human rabies cases around the world are due to dog bites. In North America, raccoons, skunks, bats and foxes are considered to be high risk. Only bats carry the rabies virus in the UK.
Can I get rabies from a scratch or lick?
Although a scratch is considered lower risk than a bite, if you've been scratched by an animal abroad in a country with rabies, you’ll probably need rabies post exposure treatment. If you get licked around your nose mouth or eyes, this is also a risk.
What is the risk of rabies by region or country?
Most of the human rabies cases occur in Asia and Africa but it's also present in North America and parts of Europe too. India accounts for 59% of cases in Asia and 35% globally. A more detailed country specific risk of rabies is provided by the UK health security agency.
Finally, you should treat any dog bite seriously and seek urgent medical advice especially if you're abroad in a country with a risk of rabies. Timely rabies vaccination can save lives and preparing advance of travel with rabies vaccination is key to safe travel.
Sources and References:
Written and Approved by:
Dr Ravi Gowda
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