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Half a year ago, I got vaccinated against rabies, because I was in a contact with a cat that was bitten by an unknown animal. Better safe than sorry, I went and had my five shots over a period of a month.

I had heard before that after these shots you cannot consume ANY alcohol for a period varying from 3 to 9 months.

The doctor who gave me the shots haven't had heard about any restrictions, but other doctors said it is very dangerous and can result in death.

I've searched the web a lot, but without any hard proof, only "someone told someone" etc.

So, are there any restrictions for alcohol consumption after rabies vaccine?

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  • Related (mentioning alcohol and vaccines) skeptics.stackexchange.com/questions/9964/…
    – Andrew Grimm
    Jun 27, 2012 at 15:10
  • "Other doctors": that you actually spoke with?
    – Jürgen A. Erhard
    Jun 27, 2012 at 23:56
  • @JürgenA.Erhard Not me personally, but a close person, who asked her family doctor, and few other doctors.
    – Mārtiņš Briedis
    Jun 28, 2012 at 0:20
  • I can tell you my experience. I had my first shot immediately after I was bitten while I was drunk and there was no side affect. But two hours after the second shot I had cramp in my legs and 12 hours later I could hardly talk. That is; rabies vaccinate effects to nervous system to some extend and results are very similar to the results of consuming a lot of alcohol. Possibly some doctors advise not to consume alcohol to minimize side affects.
    – user7699
    Jun 28, 2012 at 22:08
  • Local doctors also say the vaccinated person should abstain from alcohol for 9 months after the first vaccine shot (whic is made ASAP after the bite) but their reasoning is that alcohol may suppress immunity development and that could make the vaccine useless and cause death from the virus that came with the bite.
    – sharptooth
    Nov 22, 2013 at 10:05

1 Answer 1

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No.

Rabies treatments available in the USA [Source: CDC] are listed below, with links to the information sheets:

While each sheet includes the standard worry-inducing list of every known, suspected and barely plausible potential side-effect and counter-indication for use, none mention alcohol.

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    Thanks for the reply! I was vaccinated with VERORAB. I read the information sheet for it and didn't find anything about alcohol. Looks like this is just a myth...
    – Mārtiņš Briedis
    Jun 27, 2012 at 4:06
  • Sorry for assuming that you were US-based. It was just the easiest to find information for.
    – Oddthinking ♦
    Jun 27, 2012 at 14:00

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