Topic Overview

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) cautions that:

• Travelers who want the rabies vaccine (a three-shot series) should schedule the first shot a minimum of 21 days before departure.
• Travelers who want the rabies vaccine and who also will be taking mefloquine or chloroquine for malaria prevention should complete their rabies vaccinations before these medicines are begun, because they may interfere with the antibody response to the rabies vaccine. The postexposure rabies vaccine that is given can be given with the antimalarial drugs without any problem.