Australia Issues Warning on Counterfeit Rabies Vaccine in India

Counterfeit Rabies Vaccine Alert

Australia has raised an alert regarding the circulation of counterfeit versions of a rabies vaccine in India, effective from November 1, 2023.

The Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation released this warning on December 22, indicating that although the vaccine is not sold in Australia, individuals who received it in India could be at risk.

The vaccine in question, Abhayrab, is produced by the Human Biologicals Institute, which is part of Indian Immunologicals Limited based in Hyderabad.

Rabies is a viral disease that primarily affects the central nervous system, with infected dogs being the main carriers of the virus in human cases.

The World Health Organization states that rabies is fatal in nearly all cases once it reaches the central nervous system and symptoms manifest.

According to the advisory, individuals who have received the counterfeit vaccine may lack adequate protection against rabies and are advised to obtain replacement doses of a rabies vaccine that is approved in Australia.

Given the challenges in verifying whether a vaccine is genuine or counterfeit, anyone who received Abhayrab in India after November 1, 2023, should be treated as having potentially received a fake vaccine.

The advisory recommends that these individuals should be provided with replacement doses of a legitimate vaccine in Australia.

The World Health Organization reports that rabies results in approximately 18,000 to 20,000 fatalities annually in India, which represents 36% of global rabies-related deaths.

Concerns have been raised in recent years regarding the quality of medical products from India, with reports of deaths linked to Indian-made cough syrups in The Gambia and Uzbekistan, as well as infections associated with Indian-produced eye drops in Sri Lanka.