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A Word From Dr. Esbeck

To Vaccinate... Or Not to Vaccinate

The need to vaccinate has been debated for years. When disease is rampant, the value of vaccinations is unquestionable. But what if the incidence of disease is low? As with anything, the benefits should be compared with the side effects.

Vaccinations are not without risk. The most common is hives, fever and nausea; the most detrimental is injection-site sarcomas, a form of connective tissue tumor. Although most commonly seen at the site of vaccinations, they can occur with injections of antibiotics or even sterile water! Estimates of occurrence range from 1 sarcoma in every 1,000 to 3,000 injections. To put it into perspective, by injecting 10 pets daily for 10 months, one sarcoma can occur. Certain individual pets or family lines tend to be more reactive and have a higher rate.

What can be done to prevent reactions?

  1. Don’t vaccinate at all. This is not usually the best option. Some vaccinations are required by law and/or needed for boarding, grooming, training classes, etc. A few years ago, a city near Chicago dropped the requirement to vaccinate for rabies and within 3 years had a rabies outbreak. Similar situations have been seen for distemper and parvovirus. Many children were not vaccinated against measles and mumps for fear of neurological side effects. This suspicion recently proved false. Several children fell ill to diseases that could have been easily prevented.
  2. Perform risk assessment. Different pets have different “life styles” and therefore, have different disease risks. Outside pets are exposed to more contagious disease than inside pets. Intact males that wander and fight, very old and very young have higher susceptibility. Pets should be vaccinated according to the degree of disease exposure.
  3. Don’t vaccinate yearly. Debates have raged for years about how long vaccine protection lasts. Our immune system is comprised of many parts; each one can be measured differently. Which one is most important? It depends on the disease. Many people have advocated titer testing to determine protection levels. This usually only measures IgG which is one of five immunoglobulins which together only make up one part of our immune system. To make matters more complicated, different diseases required different levels of titers to be considered “protective.” The most accurate method to determine protection is being exposed to disease and not getting sick. This is the method by which most vaccines are tested.
  4. Use vaccines approved for 3 years. Contrary to what most people believe, 3-year vaccines are NOT 3 times stronger. They have been tested to last for 3 years. Rabies, distemper, parvovirus, and leukemia are available as 3-year-approved vaccines. Using them will decrease vaccine injections by 67%. I like to rotate them, giving only 1 each year. Not all vaccinations are available as 3-year, such as Bordetella and Lepto, which are available only as 1-year-approved.
  5. Decrease tissue trauma. Injection-site reactions are believed to be started by damaged tissue. Using small needles and keeping the pets still during injections (especially wiggly puppies and kittens) can decrease reaction rate. Using Benadryl at the time of vaccination decreases the occurrence of hives and “serum sickness.”

I firmly believe that vaccinations are valuable, necessary, and have a very high degree of safety. Each pet should be evaluated, and a vaccination schedule determined that fits their exposure to disease. Our goal is to keep every pet healthy for a long and full life.

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