Vaccination - a minefield for dog families

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Trying to make sense of the vaccination schedule and programmes offered by vet surgeries in the UK is a minefield for anyone trying to do the very best for their puppy / dog. Many vet surgeries are not following the Guidelines for vaccination detailed by the WSAVA and very few fully explain the benefits and risks of vaccination or routinely offer a titre test to confirm immunity rather than blindly promoting revaccination "boosters".

The situation is made more complicated by the fact that different brands of essentially the identical vaccine product may offer a range of "mixtures". The World Small Animal Veterinary Association most recent guidance states that vaccines against Canine Distemper; Canine Adenovirus (Hepatitis) and Canine Parvovirus are the "core" vaccines recommended for all puppies/ dogs. Therefore they should be offered separately from any other vaccine e.g. Lepto; Rabies; Kennel Cough etc. Nobivac DHP is an example of this. However, I have recently discovered that some brands add in "extras" of other vaccines as a single multi-jab. If a vet practice stocks these, it can make it very difficult for anyone who wants to avoid giving their puppy or dog unnecessary vaccines which may have a higher risk of adverse reactions or are simply unnecessary. The more different viruses and bacteria together with other potentially toxic "adjuvants" that are given in one go, the greater the possibility of an adverse reaction and clearly the impossibility of knowing which of the components has caused an issue, if there is a bad reaction or fatality.

Even if you do want to have other vaccines, it can be advisable to have them given over a period of time rather than all at once. Our own vet who does use the Nobivac DHP told us that, if we had wanted to have the Lepto jab for our puppy, she would have given a gap of at least 2 weeks between the DHP (viral vaccines) and the Lepto (bacterial vaccine) and would never mix the two. We were also offered a titre test (blood test) four weeks after our puppy's DHP vaccination to confirm that the vaccine had worked.

Unless a puppy is vaccinated at 16 weeks or older, there is always a possibility that the vaccine will not work. Vaccine manufacturers, knowing that people are rightly concerned to have their puppies socialised as soon as possible, have tried to make their products more effective earlier and many claim that their vaccines will be effective once a puppy reaches 10 weeks of age. For the majority of puppies that will be the case, but the data sheets do carry a warning that a variety of factors can interfere with the effectiveness of the product. An example below:

"Vaccinate healthy animals only.

A good immune response is reliant on a fully competent immune system.
Immunocompetence of the animal may be compromised by a variety of factors including poor health, nutritional status, genetic factors, concurrent drug therapy and stress.
Immunological responses to the CDV, CAV and CPV components of the vaccine may be delayed due to maternally derived antibody interference. However, the vaccine has been proven to be protective against virulent challenge in the presence of maternally derived antibodies to CDV, CAV and CPV at levels equal or higher to those likely to be encountered under field conditions. In situations where very high maternally derived antibody levels are expected, the vaccination protocol should be planned accordingly."[/i]

For DHP vaccines only a single shot is needed to provide immunity in a puppy or dog over the age of 16 weeks as long as they are healthy. A puppy does not need a "programme" of vaccinations with DHP - the reason vet practices repeat the vaccination in puppies between 6-10 weeks or older is only because they do not know whether the puppy still has maternally derived antibodies to those diseases which will prevent the vaccine from immunising the puppy so they repeat the vaccinations every two weeks in the hope that on one of the occasions the puppy will be immunised. If a puppy had no protection from maternal antibodies at a very young age, every vaccination after the first would be pointless as the viral content would be inactivated. If a puppy had strong maternal antibodies until 16 weeks of age the earlier vaccines would also be ineffective. This is why we wait as long as possible before having our puppies vaccinated (usually at 12 weeks) and then titre test four weeks later to check the vaccine has worked.

The one year "booster" is also not required if a puppy has been immunised at a younger age - it is simply a way of dealing with the issue of those pups that completed their vaccinations too young and who have actually not been protected against disease for the previous months. This is another reason why a titre test after the first vaccinations is actually very important - not only does it prove that you have actually got what you paid for ( a puppy immunised against DHP) but also you are not going to run the risk of your young dog going down with one of the diseases before they receive the repeat vaccination at a year.

Most vaccine manufacturers will state on the data sheet for their DHP vaccines that they last for three years. Exactly the same vaccine may also be offered as lasting for one year only. This time scale has nothing to do with the actual length of time that a healthy dog will remain immune to those diseases, it is simply the extent of time for which the manufacturer has carried out laboratory tests. Modified Live Vaccines (which includes DHP) provide long term / lifetime immunity in dogs that remain otherwise healthy (and only healthy dogs should be vaccinated anyway as stated by the manufacturers). This is well known and has been proven by a long term study of a thousand dogs in the USA and by those vet practices who have been offering titre testing for many years on a regular basis. There is no difference between the effectiveness long-term of DHP in dogs than of similar vaccines such as MMR in humans. As the NHS website states:

"Because a live vaccine is the closest thing to a natural infection, it typically produces a strong immune response and often gives lifelong protection."

How many people are getting the MMR jab every year or even every three years?

As recommended by the WSAVA all dogs should be titre tested before being revaccinated as very few will require revaccination other than those who failed to be immunised by their puppy jabs. The titre test does only measure circulating antibodies to disease so it is possible that an older dog may have immunity even though there are no detectable circulating antibodies but, if the blood test result is positive at any level there is no need to vaccinate that dog again. Some vets will tell people the result is only valid if it is above a certain figure but this is not true and, according to the WSAVA Guidelines:

"The presence of antibody (no matter what the titre) indicates protective immu- nity and immunological memory is present in that animal. Giving more frequent vaccines to animals in an attempt to increase antibody titre is a pointless exercise. It is impossible to create ‘greater immunity’ by attempting to increase an antibody titre."[/b]

As regards Leptospirosis vaccines, these are killed bacterial products of lesser effectiveness and very short lived so the above comments do not apply to these. If anyone is concerned about the need for their dog to be vaccinated against Lepto, I would recommend doing plenty of research about the prevalence of the disease in your area, the likelihood of your dog coming into contact with the bacteria and the pros and cons (safety concerns) of the vaccine before coming to a decision.