Definition of categories of exposure and use of rabies biologicals

These are the WHO recommended definitions of categories of exposure and use of rabies biologicals:



Category III: -single or multiple transdermal bites or scratches, licks on broken skin, contamination of mucous membrane with saliva (i.e. licks) and suspect contacts with bats: use immunoglobulin plus vaccine


Category II: -minor scratches or abrasions without bleeding or and nibbling of uncovered skin: use vaccine alone




Category I : -touching, feeding of animals or licks on intact skin no exposure therefore no prophylaxis if history reliable


References:

http://www.who.int/rabies/PEP_prophylaxis_guidelines_June10.pdf


http://www.who.int/wer/2007/wer8249_50.pdf

Revised recommendations for Rabies postexposure prophylaxis

Previously, Advisory Committee Immunization Practices recommended a 5-dose rabies vaccination regimen with human diploid cell vaccine (HDCV) or purified chick embryo cell vaccine (PCECV). These new recommendations reduce the number of vaccine doses to four. The reduction in doses recommended for PEP was based in part on evidence from rabies virus pathogenesis data, experimental animal work, clinical studies, and epidemiologic surveillance. These studies indicated that 4 vaccine doses in combination with rabies immune globulin (RIG) elicited adequate immune responses and that a fifth dose of vaccine did not contribute to more favorable outcomes. For persons previously unvaccinated with rabies vaccine, the reduced regimen of 4 1-mL doses of HDCV or PCECV should be administered intramuscularly. The first dose of the 4-dose course should be administered as soon as possible after exposure (day 0). Additional doses then should be administered on days 3, 7, and 14 after the first vaccination. ACIP recommendations for the use of RIG remain unchanged. For persons who previously received a complete vaccination series (pre- or postexposure prophylaxis) with a cell-culture vaccine or who previously had a documented adequate rabies virus-neutralizing antibody titer following vaccination with noncell-culture vaccine, the recommendation for a 2-dose PEP vaccination series has not changed. Similarly, the number of doses recommended for persons with altered immunocompetence has not changed; for such persons, PEP should continue to comprise a 5-dose vaccination regimen with 1 dose of RIG. Recommendations for pre-exposure prophylaxis also remain unchanged, with 3 doses of vaccine administered on days 0, 7, and 21 or 28. Prompt rabies PEP combining wound care, infiltration of RIG into and around the wound, and multiple doses of rabies cell-culture vaccine continue to be highly effective in preventing human rabies. 
Source: http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/rr5902a1.htm#tab3 accessed on March 19, 2010