Monday, July 23, 2012

How long do vaccines last?



THE DATA

Actually the correct question is... how long is the duration of immunity   [DOI]  provided by the vaccines? The quick answer is the duration of immunity for Rabies vaccine, Canine distemper vaccine, Canine Parvovirus vaccine, Feline Panleukopenia vaccine, Feline Rhinotracheitis, feline Calicivirus, have all been demonstrated to be a minimum of 7 years by serology for rabies and challenge studies for all others.
The leading authority on DOI is Dr. Ronald Schultz, a veterinary immunologist who leads vaccine research and  is chair of the University of Wisconsin’s Department of Pathobiological Sciences. He authored Duration of Immunity to Canine Vaccines: What We Know and What We Don’t Know, Proceedings – Canine Infectious Diseases: From Clinics to Molecular Pathogenesis, Ithaca, NY, 1999,  His research has provided the following:

Minimum Duration of Immunity for Canine Vaccines:

Distemper- 7 years by challenge/15 years by serology
Parvovirus – 7 years by challenge/ 7 years by serology
Adenovirus – 7 years by challenge/ 9 years by serology
Canine rabies – 3 years by challenge/ 7 years by serology
Dr. Schultz concludes:  “Vaccines for diseases like distemper and canine parvovirus, once administered to adult animals, provide lifetime immunity.”  “Are we vaccinating too much?” JAVMA, No. 4, August 15, 1995, pg. 421.
So why are vets administering unnecessary, potentially deadly vaccines? According to Dr. Schultz, the policy for annual revaccination was started in 1978, but it is entirely arbitrary and without any scientific support. 
“This recommendation was made without any scientific validation of the need to booster immunity so frequently. In fact the presence of good humoral antibody levels blocks the anamnestic response to vaccine boosters just as maternal antibody blocks the response in some young animals.”
               “The patient receives no benefit and may be placed at serious risk when an unnecessary vaccine is given. Few or no scientific studies have demonstrated a need for cats or dogs to be revaccinated. Annual vaccination for diseases caused by CDV, CPV2, FPLP and FeLV has not been shown to provide a level of immunity any different from the immunity in an animal vaccinated and immunized at an early age and challenged years later. We have found that annual revaccination with the vaccines that provide long-term immunity provides no demonstrable benefit.”

ADVOCATE FOR YOUR DOG

ASK YOURSELF THESE QUESTIONS:
1. WHY THIS VACCINE? 
 
2. WHY NOW? IS IT NECESSARY? 

3. DATE OF LAST VACCINE?

4. WHAT ARE THE RISK FACTORS? CONSIDER, AGE, HEALTH AND MEDICAL HISTORY AND ALLERGIES OF YOUR PET. YOU KNOW YOUR PET BETTER THAN ANYONE ELSE. TRUST  YOUR INSTINCT.

5. IS THIS VACCINE NECESSARY AND PROPER OR IS IT "VET POLICY"? [VET POLICY=INCOME DRIVEN, NOT NECESSARILY IN THE BEST INTEREST OF YOUR PET]

6. DO NOT EVER SIGN A BLANKET CONSENT FORM AT ANY VET THAT ALLOWS THEM TO ADMINISTER ANY AND ALL VACCINES.

7. DO NOT ALLOW ANYONE TO INTIMIDATE YOU. TAKE A COPY OF A PRINT OUT OF THIS POST.  TAKE YOUR BEST FRIEND WITH YOU.  GIVE THE VET YOUR WRITTEN POLICY AND HAVE THEM SIGN IT.

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