Overvaccination May Jeopardize Dog's Health

[Guest guest]

Annual Dog Vaccines May Be Unnecessary

 

Study: Overvaccination May Jeopardize Dog's Health

 

POSTED: 4:28 p.m. EST March 17, 2003

 

Once a year, Ronald Schultz checks the antibody

levels in his

dogs'blood. Why? He says for proof that most annual

vaccines are unnecessary.

Schultz, professor of pathobiological sciences at the

University of

Wisconsin-Madison School of Veterinary Medicine, has

been studying the

effectiveness of canine vaccines since the 1970s; he's

learned that

immunity can last as long as a dog's lifetime, which

suggests that our " best

friends " are being overvaccinated.

 

 

 

Based on his findings, a community of canine

vaccine experts has

developed new veterinary recommendations that could

eliminate a dog's need

for annual shots. The guidelines appear in the

March/April issue of

Trends, the journal of the American Animal Hospital

Association. Every

year, when we take our dogs to the veterinarian's

office, they could

receive up to 16 different vaccines, many of which are

combined into a

single shot. Four of these products protect against

life-threatening

diseases, including rabies, canine parvovirus type 2,

canine distemper virus

and canine adenovirus type 2; the rest protect

against milder diseases

to which only some dogs are exposed, including Lyme

disease. But, as

many veterinarians are realizing, overvaccination can

actually jeopardize

a dog's health. Side effects can cause skin problems,

allergic

reactions and autoimmune disease. And in cats, tumors

have been reported at the

site of vaccine injections. " These adverse reactions

have caused many

veterinarians to rethink the issue of vaccination, "

Schultz said. " The

idea that unnecessary vaccines can cause serious side

effects is in

direct conflict with sound medical practices. " For 30

years, Schultz has

been examining the need to vaccinate animals so often

and for so many

diseases. " In the 1970s, I started thinking about

our immune response

to pathogens and how similar it is in other animals, "

Schultz said.

" That's when I started to question veterinary

vaccination practices. " Just

like ours, a canine's immune system fires up when a

pathogen, like

a virus, enters the body. The pathogen releases a

protein called an

antigen, which calls into action the immune system's

special

disease-fighting cells. These cells not only destroy

the virus, but they remember

what it looked like so they can fend it off in the

future. It's this

immunological memory that enables vaccines, which

purposely contain live,

weakened or dead pathogens, to protect against future

disease.

 

 

 

But, as Schultz points out, vaccines can keep

people immune for a

lifetime: We're usually inoculated for measles, mumps

and rubella as

children but never as adults. So, can dogs be

vaccinated as pups and

then never again?

 

 

 

While evidence from Schultz's studies on both his

own dogs and many

other dogs from controlled studies suggests the answer

is yes, Schultz

recommends a more conservative plan based on duration

of immunity and

individual risk. Schultz said that core vaccines,

or the ones that

protect against life-threatening disease, are

essential for all dogs,

yet he does not recommend dogs receive these shots

yearly. He said that,

with the exception of the rabies vaccine, they should

last at least

seven years. Rabies shots, on the other hand, have

shown to last about

three years. For these reasons, Schultz suggests

that dogs receive

rabies shots every three years (as is required by law

in most states) and

the other core vaccines no more frequently than every

three years. Some

less serious vaccines, on the other hand, have a much

shorter

duration of immunity, lasting around one year. But,

as Schultz

points out, not every dog should get these types of

vaccines, because not

every dog is at risk for exposure. Today, many

vaccinated dogs receive a

shot for Lyme disease. But Schultz said that the ticks

carrying the

Lyme disease pathogen can be found in

only a few regions of the United States. " The vaccine

can cause adverse

effects such as mild arthritis, allergy or other

immune diseases. Like

all vaccines, it should only be used when the animal

is at significant

risk, " he said. Another common vaccine that Schultz

says is unnecessary

protects against " kennel cough, " an often mild and

transient disease

contracted during boarding or dog shows. " Most pet

dogs that do not live

in breeding kennels, are not boarded, do not go to dog

shows and have

only occasional contact with dogs outside their

immediate family, rarely

need to be vaccinated or revaccinated for kennel

cough, " he said.

Schultz said it's important for veterinarians to

recognize an individual

dog's risk for developing a particular disease when

considering the

benefits of a vaccine. Giving a vaccine that's not

needed creates an

unnecessary risk to the animal, he said. Schultz

admitted that recommending

that dogs receive fewer vaccines may spark

controversy, especially since

many veterinarians rely on annual vaccines to bring in

clients, along

with income. But annual visits are important for many

reasons other than

shots. " Checking for heartworm, tumors, dermatological

problems and

tooth decay

should be done on a yearly basis, " he said. " Plus,

some dogs, depending

on their risk, may need certain vaccines annually. "

Rather than

vaccinating on each visit, veterinarians can use a

recently developed test

that checks dogs' immunity against certain diseases.

Schultz said

veterinarians who have switched to the three-year,

instead of annual,

vaccination program have found no increase in the

number of dogs with

vaccine-preventable diseases. " Every day, more and

more people in the profession

are embracing the

change, " Schultz said. The new vaccination guidelines

are supported by

the AAHA, along with the task force members

representing the American

Colleges of Veterinary Internal Medicine, Veterinary

Microbiology and

the American Association of Veterinary Immunologists.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Everything you'll ever need on one web page

from News and Sport to Email and Music Charts

http://uk.my.