Welcome to the Vaccines and Immunizations website.
Skip directly to the search box, site navigation, or content.

Department of Health and Human Services
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention


Vaccines & Immunizations

Vaccines and Preventable Diseases:

Rabies Vaccination
Pronounced (RAY-beez)

Preexposure vaccination is recommended for persons in high-risk groups, such as veterinarians, animal handlers, and certain laboratory workers. Although preexposure vaccination does not eliminate the need for additional medical attention after a rabies exposure, it can decrease the number of vaccine doses needed, and it minimizes adverse reactions to multiple doses of vaccine. More...

Rabies vaccination

What You Should Know

About the Disease

top of page

Vaccine Information

top of page

Vaccine Beliefs & Concerns

top of page

Vaccine Safety

As with all vaccines, there can be minor reactions, including pain and redness at the injection site, headache, fatigue or a vague feeling of discomfort.

top of page

Who Should Not be Vaccinated?

It should be noted that there are no contraindications for those truly exposed to rabies. Therefore, the "who should not be vaccinated" information is relevent for routine pre-exposure only.

top of page

For Health Professionals

top of page

External Web Site Policy This symbol means you are leaving the CDC.gov Web site. For more information, please see CDC's Exit Notification and Disclaimer policy.

File Formats: All viewers, players, and plug-ins used on this site can be downloaded from the file formats page. (For example: Adobe Acrobat Reader for pdf files, Windows Media Player for audio and video files, PowerPoint Viewer for presentation slides, etc.)

This page last modified on September 28, 2010
Content last reviewed on May 14, 2009
Content Source: National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases

Quick Links

Safer Healthier People

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 1600 Clifton Rd, Atlanta, GA 30333, U.S.A
Public Inquiries: 1-800-CDC-INFO (232-4636); 1-888-232-6348 (TTY)

Vaccines and Immunizations