Are We Over-Vaccinating Our Pets?

by Barbara Royal, DVM | Apr 30, 2008

Cutting Edge New Research Holds The Key To This Critical Question.

DID YOU KNOW?  

There is no chemical difference between the one and three-year vaccines.  

The only difference is the label, which affects the legal aspects of the vaccine’s timespan in the animal. They are poured from the same vat into different vials— some labeled one-year and others labeled three-years. The reason? The initial vaccine needs a booster to be fully effective. Typically just the first vaccine in a puppy’s life is considered a one-year vaccine. After one year, it is boostered with the three-year labeled vaccine, proving that the three-year duration is in effect.  

There is nothing in the three-year vaccine that makes it more powerful than the one year vaccine. The three-year vaccine does not stimulate the immune system more violently than the one-year. Conversely, the one-year vaccine is not more gentle on the system. They are the same. So if you do have a sensitive, geriatric or immune- compromised animal, it is best to try to avoid any adverse reaction from the vaccines by limiting the number of vaccines.  

 Vaccination in both human and veterinary medicine is a charged issue these days. The benefits of vaccine are clear, with vaccination schedules put in place to give potent and proper protection, decreasing the risks of many diseases for both animals and humans and protecting both individuals and populations from outbreaks. 

Yet the risks of over-vaccinating our pets is an all too prevalent reality. Adverse reactions to rabies vaccination can include skin lesions; allergic responses; vomiting and diarrhea; muzzle edema; autoimmune diseases affecting the thyroid, joints, blood, eyes, skin, kidney, liver, bowel and central nervous system; anaphylactic shock; aggression; seizures; epilepsy; and fibrosarcomas at injection sites. 

Careful and judicious use of vaccines must be based on up-to-date research about the vaccines that are currently administered. The new Rabies Challenge Fund Charitable Trust research project has begun with the goal of transforming the way we vaccinate by documenting research to extend the required interval for rabies boosters to five and then to seven years. 

World-renowned veterinarian Dr. Jean Dodds of California donates her time leading this research project in hopes of proving that the duration of immunity of the current Rabies Vaccines is seven years. The second phase of the project will also finance a study of the adjuvants used in Rabies Vaccines and establish an adverse reaction reporting system. Grassroots funding is essential, as studies like these are highly unlikely to be funded and carried out without a bias by a drug company. 

Adding critically important data on Rabies Vaccines—that they last for at least seven years—to the veterinary literature will make a huge difference for our pets. The findings of Dr. Dodds’ study could decrease the risk of adverse reaction to vaccination by significantly decreasing the number of vaccines needed in an animal’s lifetime. This research is not being done anywhere else in this country, although researchers in France have already proven that the rabies vaccine lasts five years. Dr. Dodds’ research, which is designed to federal government standards, hopes to be instrumental in changing the laws that govern frequency of vaccine use to comply with modern medicine. In many states and cities, outdated laws on the books require a one-year vaccine be given, even though the three-year is accepted by federal standards. 

The University of Wisconsin is working closely with Dr. Dodds, donating all necessary overhead, which accounts for 48 percent of direct research costs. Additionally, Dr. Schultz, the Principal Investigator, is volunteering his time. The research for the five-year and seven-year study will be done concurrently, and each year’s work will be funded by donations. 

Hopefully, in the near future, our pets will see the benefits of this research, needing only one Rabies Vaccine every seven years. You can help by contributing to this worthwhile research project.