Vaccinations are one of the principles of good preventative
medicine.
Vaccinations are one of the principles of good preventative medicine.
Even so, many pet owners don’t really understand how vaccines protect their animals.
Immunizations prevent disease, we all know that.
But how they do this is somewhat a mystery to lots of folks.
Furthermore, most people don’t realize that there are risks involved whenever vaccinations are administered. More on that in a few moments.
First, let’s see how vaccinations really work.
Vaccines are designed to stimulate an immune response.
They are made either from an inactivated form or from a modified form of an infectious organism (a virus, bacteria, etc.).
Either way, they are similar enough to the real organism that they are recognized by the immune system, which then produces an antibody response.
Yet they are altered enough that they don’t make the patient ill.
The resulting antibodies guard against future infections of that particular organism.
Let’s take a look at the virus that causes rabies as an example. This virus is very infectious and very dangerous.
Almost any animal or person who contracts this disease dies a terrible death. That’s the bad news.
The good news is that the vaccine for this disease imparts almost 100 percent immunity to any animal or person who receives it.
This prophylactic vaccine is a remarkable solution to what was once a terrifying disease.
This and other vaccines have made our world safer from rabies, polio, smallpox and many other deadly viruses.
To manufacture the rabies vaccine, live rabies virus is injected into an egg where it grows and replicates.
The next generation of this virus is harvested from that egg and implanted into yet another egg where it can again replicate.
This process is repeated many times as the virus is passed from egg to egg.
And after so many transfers, the virus mutates.
It modifies itself to accommodate living inside an egg. In so doing, it loses its lethal character, its ability to cause serious illness in animals or humans.
But this new modified live virus (MLV), when given to a dog or cat, still stimulates the immune system to produce antibodies which protect against the real (original) rabies virus.
In a way, the modified live virus vaccine acts to “fool” the immune system into producing antibodies against the real thing … all without making the patient ill.
Killed-virus vaccines are produced in a different way.
With these, the virus is mixed with formalin, which inactivates, or kills, the virus.
Killed-virus vaccines are given with nearly the same results.
Even though they often stimulate a weaker immune response than their counterpart MLV vaccines, they are very effective.
As good as vaccines are, they do have some potential side effects.
And while these aren’t common, they are serious and sometimes dangerous.
Anytime the immune system is stimulated, there’s a chance for aberrant reactions that can make a patient ill.
In rare instances, a dog vaccinated for distemper can develop an immune response that destroys the platelets in his blood.
This causes bleeding and anemia, and is potentially fatal.
Caught early enough, this problem is treatable and usually lasts only a few months.
In cats, connective tissue sarcoma tumors have occasionally developed as a result of immunization reactions.
These tumors can be very difficult to treat or remove. Current research is under way to determine why these tumors occur.
Fortunately, the risk of these side effects is very low – on the order of less than one incidence in 10,000 animals vaccinated.
Veterinarians believe the risk for disease in unvaccinated pets is much greater than this.
In short, vaccinations are an important part of your pet’s good health despite the potential for these very unusual problems.
Besides all this, many veterinarians now recognize that the immune response to some vaccines lasts longer than the once-a-year interval traditionally prescribed for boosters.
Newer and better vaccines, and a better ability to measure response have made us realize that vaccine intervals for distemper and parvovirus in dogs and for leukemia and panleukopenia in cats can now be extended from one to as many as three years for many pets.
Each pet has individual needs.
Depending on lifestyle – whether or not he or she is taken to a groomer or boarding kennel – your furry friend may have more exposure risk than others.
Dogs that go to open-air dog parks have more risk than those that stay at home.
And cats that go outside the house have more chance for exposure to feline diseases than inside kitties.
Talk with your pet’s vet about what vaccinations would be best for your dog or cat.
