COVID-19-related travel restrictions temporarily reduced the demand for rabies post-exposure prophylaxis in France

Perrine Parize (1, 2) , Philippe Poujol (3) , Pierre Louis Conan (4, 5) , Lucie Kuhmel (3) , Cora Lucet (3) , Kaoutar Jidar (3) , Marie Gominet (4, 5) , Hervé Bourhy (1, 6) , Cécile Ficko (5, 4)

1 Lyssavirus, épidémiologie et neuropathologie - Lyssavirus Epidemiology and Neuropathology
2 CNR - Centre National de Référence de la Rage - National Reference Center Rabies
3 CMIP - Centre Médical de l'Institut Pasteur
4 EVDG - École du Val de Grâce
5 Hôpital d'Instruction des Armées Begin
6 CC-OMS / WHO-CC - Centre collaborateur de l'OMS - Rage / World Health Organization Collaboration Centres - Rabies

Due to travel restrictions, a dramatic decrease of rabies post-exposure demand was observed in 2020 in the Ile-de-France region. The recovery of international travels may lead to a rebound in rabies exposures. This risk need to be anticipated and prevention messages delivered to people travelling to rabies-enzootic countries.

Keywords: COVID-19; rabies; rabies vaccines; travel medicine

Domains: Life Sciences [q-bio]

Perrine Parize, Philippe Poujol, Pierre Louis Conan, Lucie Kuhmel, Cora Lucet, et al.. COVID-19-related travel restrictions temporarily reduced the demand for rabies post-exposure prophylaxis in France. Journal of Travel Medicine, 2021, 28 (7), pp.taab127. ⟨10.1093/jtm/taab127⟩. ⟨pasteur-03696129⟩