Early Life Vaccination of Companion Animal Pets

Abstract

Development of the immune system of mammalian animal species parallels that of humans and involves the innate and adaptive (acquired) immune responses acting together with the thymus gland. Consequently, issues surrounding the adequacy and safety of vaccinations to protect pet animals from their relevant infectious diseases need to be addressed just as they are for humans. Pet animals, especially canines, also have unique needs because of the wide diversity of purebred and mixed breeds that vary greatly in size, type, temperament, and even maturation rates. Furthermore, pets in early life encounter a series of changes that can affect their development and induce stressors including parasite control, new homes and environment, novel foods, and the socialization that is essential at a time when vaccinations need to be given. While recognizing that this overall need is becoming more understood, current vaccination policy guidelines for companion animals are still only adhered to by about 40% of veterinarians worldwide. Clearly, vaccination of pets should no longer be considered as “one size fits all”.

Canine panosteitis and preventive veterinary measures: insights from a case series

“…Live virus vaccines were reported to induce hypertrophic osteodystrophy (HOD) on a litter of Weimaraner puppies. Vaccines, among other environmental factors, were supposed to trigger clinical manifestation of HOD in genetically susceptible animals (Harrus et al 2002;Dodds 2021). Many vaccination adverse reactions are reported: hypersensitivity and allergic events, feline injection site sarcoma (FISS) and association to autoimmune diseases in combination with genetics and environmental factors (Gershwin 2018;Dodds 2021;Yoshida et al 2021).…”

“…Vaccines, among other environmental factors, were supposed to trigger clinical manifestation of HOD in genetically susceptible animals (Harrus et al 2002;Dodds 2021). Many vaccination adverse reactions are reported: hypersensitivity and allergic events, feline injection site sarcoma (FISS) and association to autoimmune diseases in combination with genetics and environmental factors (Gershwin 2018;Dodds 2021;Yoshida et al 2021). Despite these observations, a high number of vaccine doses received by each studied dog before one year of age were noticed, reflecting local clinical management.…”

“…Interestingly, dog #1 received the highest number of vaccine doses and was the youngest to present clinical signs, precociously compared to epidemiological data. A high number of vaccine shots trigger immune system response against too many antigens in a short time interval, increasing adverse effects probability (Dodds 2021). Although not proven, this could result in specific cytokines secretion which could contribute to panosteitis cellular events in predisposed dogs.…”

Current perspective of vaccination in Spain for dogs and cats from a pharmaceutical approach.

“…4,6,8,37 It would be easy to make a mistake and routinely vaccinate every year instead of every three years, eliciting a risk of adverse effects giving these vaccines too frequently. 4,6,8,11,38 In addition, we consider that the absence of Adenovirus in Distemper+Parvovirus vaccine or Parvovirus alone make them impractical and would elicit under-vaccination or an overvaccination because Adenovirus alone, and Distemper +Adenovirus, that are essentials for a right immunization are not marketed. Finally, like we have seen above, Bordetella+Parainfluenza is an important combination, so the presence of a vaccine with Bordetella as the only microorganism would not provide any benefit.…”

Tracking lethal threat: In-depth review of rabies

“…A number of vaccines have permission to be used on pet species ( Dodds, 2021 ). There are a variety of minimum age requirements for vaccination, live attenuated or modified viral vector products, intramuscular and subcutaneous products, and vaccinations with immunological durations of 1–3 years ( Natesan et al , 2023 ).…”