Question about Rabies titer

[lynne8832]

Hi everyone!
I am looking for some advice regarding rabies titers. I had my initial series done at the end of May 2020 for an internship that I did and now, I will need a titer before starting school. Is this something that I can have my Primary Care doctor order for me and have it drawn anywhere? Or are there specific labs that I have to go to for this? Also, is it safe to receive the entire 3-dose series again if I have already had it in the past? Thanks in advance!

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[JaynaAli]

Hi everyone!
I am looking for some advice regarding rabies titers. I had my initial series done at the end of May 2020 for an internship that I did and now, I will need a titer before starting school. Is this something that I can have my Primary Care doctor order for me and have it drawn anywhere? Or are there specific labs that I have to go to for this? Also, is it safe to receive the entire 3-dose series again if I have already had it in the past? Thanks in advance!

I believe there’s only a couple labs in the US that do the titers. Many are sent to Kansas State…the couple I’ve had done were anyway. In theory your doctor should be able to do it but they may not know how to submit and may not be willing to spend the time figuring it out. Your school probably has people at student health more familiar with the process than the average doctor so I would maybe ask your admissions crew what you need to do to get a titer. Maybe you can get it done shortly after school starts through them. It’s safe to get more vaccines but at $300 a shot and not usually covered by insurance, I’d definitely get a titer first to see if you need them before paying for more needlessly. Most people have antibodies that last many years so I would assume a series completed just two years ago would most likely be good still. They vaccinated us as first years and made us get titered again at the start of fourth year and maybe only one or two classmates didn’t have sufficient titers and needed a booster (which I think is just one shot).

 

[supershorty]

I believe there’s only a couple labs in the US that do the titers. Many are sent to Kansas State…the couple I’ve had done were anyway. In theory your doctor should be able to do it but they may not know how to submit and may not be willing to spend the time figuring it out. Your school probably has people at student health more familiar with the process than the average doctor so I would maybe ask your admissions crew what you need to do to get a titer. Maybe you can get it done shortly after school starts through them. It’s safe to get more vaccines but at $300 a shot and not usually covered by insurance, I’d definitely get a titer first to see if you need them before paying for more needlessly. Most people have antibodies that last many years so I would assume a series completed just two years ago would most likely be good still. They vaccinated us as first years and made us get titered again at the start of fourth year and maybe only one or two classmates didn’t have sufficient titers and needed a booster (which I think is just one shot).

Agree with this, especially with contacting student health. I've had titers done through my university during school (I was vaccinated almost a decade ago and still have a sky-high titer) and it was a lot easier than trying to get it done through a primary care physician who wasn't working with vet students or veterinarians.

 

[battie]

Illinois's student health center did it for me easy peasy and it was only about $35 if I remember correctly. So definitely worth it to get the titer since it's 10x cheaper

 

[BlueCats]

I had my titer recently and I’m still good, & I was vaccinated back in 2010!

 

[JustPaws]

I had my initial series in 2017 and my titer was fine in both 2019 and 2021 at my rechecks