The trend of pet ownership has become crazier and crazier in recent years, and many bites due to pets have occurred. Many people are wondering what should I do if I am bitten again during the rabies vaccination period and should I go back for it? Before we talk about this issue we need to understand how long is the rabies vaccine valid for? How long is the rabies vaccine valid for? Most people are immunized for more than 6 months after the full course of the human rabies vaccine has been administered and antibodies have been produced. This 6 month period means that if you are injured by a dog again within 6 months after the injection, you do not need to get the vaccine again. However, it is important to note that the rabies vaccine is not a lifetime vaccine! Therefore, even if you have received the rabies vaccine, if you are scratched or bitten by a dog or cat again after 6 months, in addition to cleaning and disinfecting the wound in a timely manner, you need to receive a booster vaccination at 0 and 3 days for level 2 exposures and a full vaccination for level 3 exposures. Considering the special nature of rabies, prevention strategies are now more cautious, and the Technical Guidelines for Rabies Prevention and Control, developed in 2016 in China, recommend that re-exposures of preferably more than 3 should be immunized with a booster dose of vaccine on each of days 0,3. If the previous vaccination used a problematic vaccine of uncertain efficacy, the full vaccination is still required immediately after exposure. What if I get bitten again during the rabies vaccination? After the full rabies vaccination is given, the rabies antibodies in your body are usually valid for more than six months. Therefore, if you are bitten again during the rabies vaccination, you do not need to get a new rabies vaccination, you just need to finish the original course of vaccination, and you will usually produce a large amount of antibodies to fight the rabies virus after the second injection. If you are bitten again during the rabies vaccination period, you must treat the wound promptly; the earlier and more thorough the treatment, the better the prevention effect. If the wound is inflicted by a healthy dog, the wound should be washed immediately and thoroughly with plenty of soapy water to avoid infection; if the wound is deep, a syringe should be inserted into the wound for irrigation and cleaning, and then disinfected with iodine vapour, to be comprehensive and thorough, removing all cat or dog saliva as much as possible. Level 3 exposures from rabid or suspected rabid bites also require an injection of rabies immunoglobulin or anti-rabies serum. Special Note: The rabies vaccine is not a lifetime vaccine, so the effective duration of protection is adjusted to 3 months from the last injection, according to the latest guidelines, and the vaccine can be dispensed with if another bite occurs within 3 months of the rabies vaccination. If you are bitten again more than 3 months after the rabies vaccination, you still need to get a booster shot of 2 doses (0, 3 days) of rabies vaccine, and in the event of a level 3 exposure, you should start the full rabies vaccination again, and you need to clean and disinfect the wound promptly whenever an animal scratch or bite occurs.