Vaccines--Dr. W. Jean Dodds Part 1

[Kris L. Christine]

Vaccines: When too Much of a Good Thing Turns Bad Dr. W. Jean Dodds 9/13/12 http://drjeandoddspethealthresource.tumblr.com/post/31497486463/dogvaccines

 

In my book, The Canine Thyroid Epidemic: Answer You Need for Your Dog, I discussed the critical role a properly functioning immune system plays in your dog’s health. If the immune system is weak (immunodeficiency), your pet’s ability to fight off disease is compromised or absent, which can expose them to many infections, including bacterial, viral and fungal infections. Immune deficiency may possibly also reduce the immune system’s ability to recognize and attack cancer-specific antigens. On the other hand, an overly-stimulated immune system can trigger immune-mediated diseases – autoimmune disorders in which the immune system mistakes normal organs as foreign invaders and attacks them. Autoimmune diseases include those affecting many tissues of the body such as the blood, thyroid, adrenal glands, joints, kidneys, liver, bowel, reproductive organs, muscles, nervous system, eyes, skin and mucous membranes.

 

So, what does this post’s topic – vaccinations – have to do with our pets’ immune systems? Plenty! As a dutiful pet caretaker, you are no doubt vaccinating your pet against a host of diseases. And, of course, a proper vaccination program is essential to your pet’s health. On the other hand, research shows that our pets simply don’t require annual vaccination boosters to keep them protected. In fact, the American Animal Hospital Association’s (AAHA) revised 2011 Canine Vaccination Guidelines recommend a revaccination program every 3 or more years for dogs. And the truth is that once your dog has completed his puppy series (or kitten series for cats) for the core vaccines, there is a good chance his body will maintain immunity to these diseases for life. Yet, many well-intentioned people continue to follow the advice of some veterinarians and give their adult dogs and cats annual (or even semi-annual) vaccine boosters. This can result in over-vaccination and a variety of potentially damaging – and in some cases, even life-threatening – adverse reactions (referred to as “vaccinosis”).

 

These risks are especially true for pets afflicted with immune-mediated disease, since over-vaccination places undue stress on the immune system and has been linked to autoimmune disease.

 

Side effects from canine and feline vaccinations can occur anywhere from instantly up to several weeks or months later. Vaccines can even cause susceptibility to chronic diseases later in life.

 

Mild reactions associated with canine or feline vaccines include:

• Fever

• Malaise

• Urticaria (hives)

• Facial swelling

• Anorexia

• Vomiting

• Stiffness

• Sore joints

• Abdominal tenderness

 

Severe and fatal adverse events include:

• Susceptibility to infections

• Neurological disorders and encephalitis

• Aberrant behaviour, including unprovoked aggression

• Collapse with autoagglutinated (clumped) red blood cells and icterus (jaundice); autoimmune hemolytic anemia (AIHA) or the synonym immune-mediated haemolytic anemia (IMHA), when red blood cells are damaged and destroyed; or petechiae [pin-point] and ecchymotic (splotchy) hemorrhages from immune-mediated thrombocytopenia (ITP), when the blood platelets are destroyed. Hepatic enzymes may be markedly elevated, and liver or kidney failure may occur by itself or accompany bone marrow suppression.

[beachdogz]

My friend does not vaccinate, although I think it is more a financial thing than a health issue. However, her vet told her that she doesn't need to vaccinate!! (I find that amazing since the vets make a good amount of money on the mark-up of vaccines, and of course, lead you to believe you need to do it yearly.)

 

Her vet asked her "do you get vaccinations every year? -- no -- we only got them as children and then we were immunized for life."

 

However, the medical field now requires children today to get so many more vaccinations than my children every had to get....and there is no doubt in my mind that the purpose of that is for the drug companies to make more money.

 

But I keep thinking, if I don't vaccinate and my dogs get sick, I will feel sooooo guilty. So I am currently on the fence regarding vaccinations.

[mtnfrank]

Her vet asked her "do you get vaccinations every year? -- no -- we only got them as children and then we were immunized for life."

 

This is simply not true. It depends on the vaccine.

 

Some are not re-required later in life because the risk of contracting the disease as an adult is low enough as to not require vaccination.

 

Other vaccines require periodic boosters, and not for monetary return to drug companies. Most of the vaccines can be done by generic companies nowadays. Not a big profit maker...

For example, just off the top of my head:

- Yellow fever is required to be renewed every 10years if traveling to an area at risk

- Tetanos vaccine booster is required every 10years

 

Now, their is a small risk associated with vaccination but usually overestimated by people (eg the old autism link that was fraudulently made up and now completely debunked). There are also a lot of "correlation" issues that people take for "causation". When considering genetic, food, environmental factors the "vaccine are bad" case becomes very very weak.

 

What one has to consider is:

risk of vaccine side effect (usually very low) vs risk of contracting disease X impact of the disease

 

If there is a tither test, it allows to evaluate that risk of contracting the disease goes down thus not needed to vaccinate again. But usually, risk of side effects is lower than the alternative. Thus vaccination is indicated.

 

If your dogs never get in contact with other dogs, vaccinating for infectious disease may not be needed. It all depends on the overall risk. But thinking that "vaccines don't work" or "vaccines are bad" are not rational statements.

 

With humans, we can also avoid vaccinating at risk people since "herd immunity" will protect them. In dogs, not so much since many people don't vaccinate their pets (due to cost).

 

F.

[mum24dog]

Now, their is a small risk associated with vaccination but usually overestimated by people (eg the old autism link that was fraudulently made up and now completely debunked). There are also a lot of "correlation" issues that people take for "causation". When considering genetic, food, environmental factors the "vaccine are bad" case becomes very very weak.

 

What one has to consider is:

risk of vaccine side effect (usually very low) vs risk of contracting disease X impact of the disease

 

This.

 

The quote from Jean Dodds is meaningless without accompanying well researched data relating to absolute risk so we can judge for ourselves. This may well be contained in the book she is selling but I'm not paying to find out. All such claims do is to serve to engender panic because, as you say, the risk is overestimated.

 

"Can"s and "may"s tell us nothing useful in themselves.

[mtnfrank]

To nuance a bit my previous post, all that is in the OP is correct.

 

There is a risk associated with vaccination (even if small). For that matter the risk exist with any infection (eg more people suffer neurological side effects from the flu virus every year than from flu virus shots).

 

And of course if the dog has kept immunity there is no point in re-vaccinating him.

 

Better research in establishing an appropriate vaccination schedule is good.

 

I personally plan to have the tither test done before re-vaccinating.

[Kris L. Christine]

The information below may help answer some of your questions.

 

The quotes in red below are from the attached scientific report covering adverse events within 3 days of vaccination in dogs over the course of 2 years. Reports of dogs having vaccinal adverse reactions within the same time frame were not included if heartworm medication had been administered along with the vaccines. This study did not include adverse reactions such as development of fibrosarcomas and/or other conditions which take longer than 3 days to develop.

 

Moore, George E. et als., Adverse events diagnosed within three days of Vaccine Administration in Dogs, Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association, Vol 227, No. 7, October 1, 2005

 

Animals—1,226,159 dogs vaccinated at 360 veterinary hospitals.

 

Results—4,678 adverse events (38.2/10,000 dogs vaccinated) were associated with administration of 3,439,576 doses of vaccine to 1,226,159 dogs. The VAAE rate decreased significantly as body weight increased. Risk was 27% to 38% greater for neutered versus sexually intact dogs and 35% to 64% greater for dogs approximately 1 to 3 years old versus 2 to 9 months old. The risk of a VAAE significantly increased as the number of vaccine doses administered per office visit increased; each additional vaccine significantly increased risk of an adverse event by 27% in dogs ≤ 10 kg (22 lb) and 12% in dogs > 10 kg.

 

Conclusions and Clinical Relevance—Young adult small-breed neutered dogs that received multiple vaccines per office visit were at greatest risk of a VAAE within 72 hours after vaccination.

 

Records for dogs that received both an injectable heartworm preventive and a vaccine during the same office visit were not included in analyses.

 

Population—In the 2-year study period, 4,531,837 vaccine doses were administered to 1,537,534 dogs at 360 veterinary hospitals.

 

Among breeds with 5,000 or more dogs vaccinated, Dachshund, Pug, Boston Terrier, Miniature Pinscher, and Chihuahua breeds had the highest rates of VAAEs with 121.7, 93.0, 83.8, 76.4, and 76.1 adverse events/10,000 dogs vaccinated, respectively (Table 1). The VAAE rate for mixed-breed dogs was in the bottom quintile of all rates.

 

The VAAE rates decreased significantly as body weight increased (P for trend < 0.001; Figure 1). For all vaccines or for rabies vaccine alone, the VAAE rate for 10.1- to 45.0-kg (22.2- to 99.0-lb) dogs was approximately half the rate for dogs that weighed 0 to 10.0 kg (0 to 22.0 lb; P < 0.001; Figure 2). For rabies vaccine administered alone, VAAE rates/10,000 dogs that weighed 0 to 10.0 kg, 10.1 to 45.0 kg, and > 45 kg were 32.1 (222/69,178), 15.3 (69/45,088), and 0.0 (0/1,966), respectively.

 

The risk of a VAAE significantly increased as the number of vaccines administered per office visit increased (P for trend < 0.001).

 

In all dogs, each additional vaccine administered per office visit increased the rate of a VAAE by 24.2%; the rate increase was significantly (P <0.001) greater in dogs that weighed 0 to 10.0 kg, compared with dogs that weighed 0.1 to 45.0 kg (27.3% vs 11.5%, respectively; Figure 4). The 3 dogs with recorded deaths each had received ≥ 4 vaccines at their last office visit.

 

The lowest rate was observed with parenteral administration of Bordetella vaccine (15.4/10,000; 82 VAAEs/53,238 doses), and the highest rate was observed with Borrelia (Lyme disease) vaccine (43.7/10,000; 132 VAAEs/30,201 doses).

 

The risk of a VAAE in this study population was inversely related to a dog’s weight.

 

Factors known to cause vaccine reactions include the primary vaccine agent or antigen, adjuvants, preservatives, stabilizers, and residues from tissue cultures used in vaccine production.

 

The overall formulation of various vaccine components (eg, antigen, adjuvants, and diluent) is proprietary information that was unavailable for analysis in our study; thus, the variation in VAAE rates among single-antigen vaccines

may not be solely attributable to the primary vaccine antigen.

 

... because of genetic heterogeneity, the relatively low VAAE rate observed in mixed-breed dogs suggests that laboratory safety trials that use such dogs may underestimate the VAAE rates that would occur in purebred dogs. This is important because purebred dogs comprise at least two thirds of the US dog population.

 

The risk of allergic reaction has been reported to increase after the third or fourth injection of a vaccine (ie, a booster response).

 

Neutering appeared to increase risk of a VAAE more than sex. Females mount stronger immune responses after vaccination or infection than males because of a dimorphic enhancing effect of estrogens and a protective effect of androgens.

[Amelia]

I believe the effects of over-vaccinating/medicating our dogs is understated. For me, less is more. No scientific data to back up my personal beliefs, just experience keeping livestock healthy. When left to recover on their own as much as possible, animals always seemed to do better and remain healthier.

 

And I'm a huge fan of Dr. Dodds. Her work with canine thyroid studies is amazing. She's personable, approachable and communicative. I would send bloodwork off straight away if I had a dog with issues from epilepsy to skin problems to anxiety. She sees beyond standard protocols and the almighty dollar.

[Kris L. Christine]

And I'm a huge fan of Dr. Dodds. Her work with canine thyroid studies is amazing. She's personable, approachable and communicative. I would send bloodwork off straight away if I had a dog with issues from epilepsy to skin problems to anxiety. She sees beyond standard protocols and the almighty dollar.

I couldn't agaree more!

[Kris L. Christine]

http://drjeandoddspethealthresource.tumblr.com/post/66693331640/dodds-dog-vaccination-protocol-2013-2014#.UoS3Uo0Vxux

 

2013 and 2014 Canine Vaccination Protocol - W. Jean Dodds, DVM

Dr. Dodds has made only slight, minor changes to the basic, core Canine Vaccination Protocol she established in previous years. Dr. Dodds bases her decisions on numerous factors such as presence of maternal immunity, prevalence of viruses or other infectious agents in the region, number of reported occurrences of the viruses and other infectious agents, how these agents are spread, and the typical environmental conditions and exposure risk activities of companion animals.

Dr. Dodds considers infectious canine hepatitis (adenovirus-1), canine adenovirus-2, bordetella, canine influenza, canine coronavirus, leptospirosis, and Lyme regional and situational. Please research the prevalence in your area, and discuss it with your veterinarian.

2013 and 2014 Vaccination Protocol
Note: The following vaccine protocol is offered for those dogs where minimal vaccinations are advisable or desirable. The schedule is one Dr. Dodds recommends and should not be interpreted to mean that other protocols recommended by a veterinarian would be less satisfactory. It’s a matter of professional judgment and choice.

9-10 Weeks Old:
Distemper + Parvovirus, MLV (e.g. Merck Nobivac [intervet Progard] Puppy DPV)

14-16 Weeks:
Same as above

20 Weeks or Older (if allowable by law):
Rabies

1 Year:
Distemper + Parvovirus, MLV

1 Year:
Rabies, killed 3-year product (give 3-4 weeks apart from distemper/parvovirus booster)

Perform vaccine antibody titers for distemper and parvovirus every three years thereafter, or more often, if desired. Vaccinate for rabies virus according to the law, except where circumstances indicate that a written waiver needs to be obtained from the primary care veterinarian. In that case, a rabies antibody titer can also be performed to accompany the waiver request. See The Rabies Challenge Fund Duration of Immunity Study for Rabies Vaccine - Rabies Challenge Fund website.

W. Jean Dodds, DVM
Hemopet / NutriScan
11561 Salinaz Avenue
Garden Grove, CA 92843