When we talk about diseases that modern medicine has nearly conquered, rabies doesn’t always top the list. But maybe it should. Once a near-certain death sentence, rabies is now one of the most preventable infectious diseases, thanks in large part to vaccination. Among those who helped bring about this transformation is Dr. Stanley Plotkin, a scientist whose vaccine work has saved lives around the world.
What Makes Rabies So Terrifying?
Rabies is the stuff of nightmares for a reason. It attacks the brain and spinal cord, often causing a terrifying form of brain inflammation known as encephalomyelitis. Once symptoms appear, the fatality rate approaches 100%.
The virus is spread through the saliva of infected animals, usually via bites. In the U.S., that often means bats or raccoons. Globally, it’s dogs that are the most common culprits,.
After a bite, the virus typically remains dormant and replicates quietly in muscle tissue during a symptom-free incubation period that can last from a few days to several years. But once it begins its march along the nerves toward the brain, symptoms emerge—and there’s no turning back. That’s why understanding prevention is so critical.
Before Modern Vaccines: Desperate Measures
Long before modern vaccines, people tried all kinds of desperate remedies after an animal bite. Burning the wound. Amputating the limb. Folk cures of every variety. None of them worked.
In 1885, Louis Pasteur made history by developing the first rabies vaccine using dried spinal cords from infected rabbits. It saved a boy named Joseph Meister, who had been mauled by a rabid dog. But the early vaccine was risky: inconsistent in potency and grown in animal brains, it sometimes caused the very disease it was supposed to prevent,.
Later versions improved safety somewhat. The Fermi and Semple vaccines used chemically inactivated virus from animal brains, but still triggered severe side effects in some recipients, including fatal brain inflammation.
Enter Stanley Plotkin
Born in 1932 in New York, Stanley Plotkin would go on to become one of the most influential vaccine developers in history. While working at the Wistar Institute in Philadelphia, he developed the rubella vaccine still used worldwide today,.
Plotkin championed the use of human diploid cell lines—cells originally derived from fetal tissue—for growing vaccine viruses. Unlike animal cells, human cells provide a safer and more reliable growth environment for viruses intended for human vaccines.
This approach became central to his later work on rabies, where he teamed up with two fellow scientists: Hilary Koprowski, Wistar’s director, and virologist Tadeusz Wiktor. (.)
Building a Better Rabies Vaccine
Plotkin, Koprowski, and Wiktor set out to solve the rabies vaccine problem. Their goal: create a vaccine that was safer, more consistent, and easier to produce.
Their innovation? Cultivating the rabies virus in WI-38 cells—a human fetal lung cell line developed at Wistar. The result was the Human Diploid Cell Vaccine (HDCV),
The vaccine had to be both safe and effective, so Plotkin coordinated pre-exposure trials with veterinary students across the U.S. The results were impressive: robust immunity, fewer side effects, and far fewer doses needed. By 1980, , marking the beginning of a new era in rabies prevention.
Today’s Rabies Vaccines: Options and Access
Plotkin’s human cell-based vaccine set the gold standard. But over time, manufacturers developed other cell-culture vaccines, including ones using chick embryo and Vero cells (monkey kidney cells). All three types—HDCV, PCECV, and PVRV—are.
They’re nearly 100% effective when administered correctly after exposure. Treatment typically involves 4-5 vaccine doses over two weeks, plus one dose of rabies immune globulin.
While the older vaccines required over a dozen painful injections, today’s options are far less invasive. And pre-exposure vaccination, once unthinkable, is now practical for people at high risk:
Global Gaps Remain
In wealthy countries, rabies deaths are rare. In the U.S., they’re often limited to people who didn’t realize they’d been exposed. But globally, rabies still claims an estimated 59,000 to 70,000 lives each year, primarily in Africa and Asia, mainly.
Cost remains a significant barrier. A complete treatment course in the U.S. can cost over $1,000, compared to a fraction of that in Europe or Asia. That’s why the WHO promotes to stretch supplies and reduce costs in low-resource settings.
Plotkin's Enduring Legacy
Stanley Plotkin’s rabies vaccine wasn’t just a scientific achievement. It was a shift in how we think about vaccine production, safety, and global health. Even into his 90s, Plotkin remained active in vaccine advocacy and research,
The transformation of rabies prevention—from painful, risky injections to safe, reliable immunization—is a testament to decades of work by scientists who refused to settle for "good enough." Stanley Plotkin was one of those scientists. His work reminds us that science isn't just about solving problems; it’s about making solutions accessible, safe, and sustainable.
And in the case of rabies, it's about making sure a deadly bite doesn't have to mean a death sentence.