On Jun. 9, 1980, the rabies human diploid-cell vaccine (Imovax Rabies by Merieux, now Sanofi, and Wyvac by Wyeth) were licensed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Approximately 400,000 doses have been administered to an estimated 100,000 persons in the United States since that time. The majority of these were for postexposure treatments. Information on possible adverse reactions to HDCV has been collected by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) from individual physicians and from medical personnel in charge of providing rabies preexposure and postexposure prophylaxis to large cohorts of persons, such as veterinary students and animal-control workers.

During the past 46 months, 108 clinical reports of systemic allergic reactions ranging from hives to anaphylaxis were reported to CDC (11 per 10,000 vaccinees). Few patients required hospitalization, and no deaths secondary to the reactions were reported.