Stacy M Holzbauer, Caroline A Schrodt, Rajesh M Prabhu, Rebecca J Asch-Kendrick, Malia Ireland, Carrie Klumb, Melanie J Firestone, Gongping Liu, Katie Harry, Jana M Ritter, Min Z Levine, Lillian A Orciari, Kimberly Wilkins, Pamela Yager, Crystal M Gigante, James A Ellison, Hui Zhao, Michael Niezgoda, Yu Li, Robin Levis, Dorothy Scott, Panayampalli S Satheshkumar, Brett W Petersen, Agam K Rao, W Robert Bell, Sonja M Bjerk, Sara Forrest, Wangcai Gao, Richard Dasheiff, Kari Russell, Melissa Pappas, Jessica Kiefer, Wesley Bickler, Anthony Wiseman, Joel Jurantee, R Ross Reichard, Kirk E Smith, Ruth Lynfield, Joni Scheftel, Ryan M Wallace, Jesse Bonwitt
BACKGROUND: No rabies post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) failure has been documented in humans in the United States using modern cell-culture vaccines. In January 2021, an 84-year-old male died from rabies six months after being bitten by a rabid bat despite receiving timely rabies post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP). We investigated the cause of breakthrough infection. METHODS: We reviewed medical records, laboratory results, and autopsy findings, and performed whole genome sequencing (WGS) to compare patient and bat virus sequences...
March 29, 2023: Clinical Infectious Diseases