Q: I am a 35 years old woman and have received 5-6 courses of primary immunisation with Rabipur in the past 7 years after being exposed to a case of rabies. About one and a half years after the first course, I had a short course of tapering prednisolone for about 10-14 days. Then about one year after this I was exposed to a dog bite for which I received 2 shots of Rabipur, one on the same day and another after 3 days. About 2 years back I had a short 14 days course of low dose predisolone for thyroiditis, and a few months later I had another short course of 10 days for my ear problem. Now last month, I had a superficial nick of about 5-6 mm in length by 1-1.5 mm in breath on my right hand. It was at the base of the right thumb and had surrounding erythema. I do not recall a dog bite on that particular day but as I was not sure, I took a course of Rabipur. But this I took nearly 14 days after noticing it. Am I well protected with these shots? Will the steroid therapy affect the antibody levels? Please advise.

A:Once you have taken a full course of Rabipur, it protects you provided you take reinforcing vaccinations after one year and then again between 2 and 5 years. Steroids, as used by you, will not affect the immunity.