Are annual shots overkill

[frawri]

I found this artical, and thought it pretty interesting. I wanted others feedback on it.


http://www.vas-awareness.org/WSJAreAnnu ... erkill.pdf

[davet]

te to vaccines....Course i can;t remember what I did this morning...The difference between humans and animals is the sniffing routine..dogs go aroud, sniffing etc any and every things and lick the grass where other dogs have urinated that might be carriers.. If my Sassy were still young I would boost her every year untill about two years ago after which time I think she had developed sufficient resistance..The average dog will not get in touch with another dog on an intimate basis probably during its life time...but childre4n get exposed every day to other children in kindergartenm,, day care etc and might maintaim sosme immunity, ie acquired from contact with children who, though healthy may shed a similare virus.... I do think that now i would do boosteres every two years till they wer at least sssssssssix and then every three years depending on their envoronment....Am I right???? I have noa idea its just that i would feel more comfort able...forget abouty me correcting this one

[Traci]

Frawri, you don't have to post multiple posts in the forums...you already posted this in Feline Health.

[k9Karen]

I didn't read the article, but, IMO, vaccinations are not needed annually once the immunity is established. The amount of immunity will vary with each animal and also depends on the type of vaccine used (killed organism, live-attenuated, or recombinant). A series of vaccines is usually needed to establish sufficient immunity. Once memory B-lymphocytes are formed, they are there for life. Re-vaccination on a regular schedule keeps antibody levels higher, but does not create new memory cells.

I think a great illustration of this is the human experience with the smallpox vaccine. The U.S. and most nations stopped vaccinating for smallpox in 1972. After the bioterrorism scare with anthrax a few years ago and 9-11, fears of a bioterrorist attack became much more real, and training was given to many first-responders on how to handle a potential event. Along with this specialized training, a core number of people were vaccinated against smallpox. It was assumed that those who had been vaccinated 30 or more years before would have lost their immunity. That was found to be untrue. Most people vaccinated for the first time experience significant side effects, whereas those who had been previously vaccinated had little to no side effects. The explanation: They still had the memory B-cells from their previous vaccine(s).

While I do not know much about a cat's immune system, that of the dog is almost identical to humans. I most definitely support vaccination and believe they have been life-savers to millions of humans and animals. I do think, however, that annual boosters for animals is excessive, just like it would be if we were required to get them ourselves.

[frawri]

Thanks Karen for your input, it was helpful. Traci I put it on both cat and dog site, because I figured that some people would only go to one of them. I hoped to get more info from both sides of the group.