Vaccines have a reputation of shielding you against disease.
That's partially true.
They also have a reputation of being completely safe...
though that reputation has been getting more tarnished these days.
Let's take a poke at the practice of pet vaccinations.
How Vaccines Work A vaccine is basically a virus.
Technically it's an antigen - an invading organism.
The immune system (yours and your pets) is designed to fight foreign antigens.
Without an immune system you'd have no defense against bacteria and viruses.
You'd have to live in a completely sterile environment - a "bubble" - or you would be overwhelmed by disease and die.
The goal of a vaccine is to introduce a small amount of a virus.
Small enough to not overwhelm the immune system.
Large enough to be detected by the immune system and thereby trigger a response.
This detection-response forms a memory in the immune system so that in the future it knows how to respond to that specific bacteria with antibodies that will contain and destroy it.
That's considered to be "immunity".
Whether or not this happens successfully depends on both the vaccine and the 'host' (pet).
The Vaccine There are two types of vaccines: - Killed virus - Modified Live Virus (MLV) Killed virus uses a non-active (killed) virus.
Easy enough.
Since it's non-active it should be more safe.
Rabies vaccines are killed virus.
Modified Live Virus uses an active virus and chemically alters it to make it less virulent.
Typically formaldehyde (yep, a known carcinogen) is used to alter the virus.
There's no guarantee it will completely alter it so one risk is the vaccine will create the very disease it's designed to prevent.
"Adjuvants" can also be added, nearly always to Killed virus vaccines and often to MLV vaccines.
Adjuvants are foreign proteins that result in a non-specific immune response.
Unless the vaccine comes in a single dose package (rare), preservatives are added.
Typically thimersol (49% mercury) and aluminum - both carcinogens.
And, there may be some additional foreign protein from tissue the virus is grown on.
Virus in nature versus virus in needle A virus injected under the skin bypasses two defensive organs...
the skin and the nose.
The skin can keep bacteria out of the body and the mucous membranes of the nose can filter and block bacteria.
By injected viruses you bypass this systems and put a larger load on the pet's immune system.
By overwhelming the immune system you can get a hyper-response which can lead to an autoimmune disease and/or immune system over-sensitivity resulting in allergies.
Also in nature you're likely to encounter one virus at a time.
To make vaccines more "convenient" they come in combination doses of 2-6 virus strains per application.
It's obvious when you think about it - fighting one "bug" is much easier than fighting multiple bugs.
Recommendations
There are risks.
Be informed and make sure the rewards out weigh the risks for your pet.
That's partially true.
They also have a reputation of being completely safe...
though that reputation has been getting more tarnished these days.
Let's take a poke at the practice of pet vaccinations.
How Vaccines Work A vaccine is basically a virus.
Technically it's an antigen - an invading organism.
The immune system (yours and your pets) is designed to fight foreign antigens.
Without an immune system you'd have no defense against bacteria and viruses.
You'd have to live in a completely sterile environment - a "bubble" - or you would be overwhelmed by disease and die.
The goal of a vaccine is to introduce a small amount of a virus.
Small enough to not overwhelm the immune system.
Large enough to be detected by the immune system and thereby trigger a response.
This detection-response forms a memory in the immune system so that in the future it knows how to respond to that specific bacteria with antibodies that will contain and destroy it.
That's considered to be "immunity".
Whether or not this happens successfully depends on both the vaccine and the 'host' (pet).
The Vaccine There are two types of vaccines: - Killed virus - Modified Live Virus (MLV) Killed virus uses a non-active (killed) virus.
Easy enough.
Since it's non-active it should be more safe.
Rabies vaccines are killed virus.
Modified Live Virus uses an active virus and chemically alters it to make it less virulent.
Typically formaldehyde (yep, a known carcinogen) is used to alter the virus.
There's no guarantee it will completely alter it so one risk is the vaccine will create the very disease it's designed to prevent.
"Adjuvants" can also be added, nearly always to Killed virus vaccines and often to MLV vaccines.
Adjuvants are foreign proteins that result in a non-specific immune response.
Unless the vaccine comes in a single dose package (rare), preservatives are added.
Typically thimersol (49% mercury) and aluminum - both carcinogens.
And, there may be some additional foreign protein from tissue the virus is grown on.
Virus in nature versus virus in needle A virus injected under the skin bypasses two defensive organs...
the skin and the nose.
The skin can keep bacteria out of the body and the mucous membranes of the nose can filter and block bacteria.
By injected viruses you bypass this systems and put a larger load on the pet's immune system.
By overwhelming the immune system you can get a hyper-response which can lead to an autoimmune disease and/or immune system over-sensitivity resulting in allergies.
Also in nature you're likely to encounter one virus at a time.
To make vaccines more "convenient" they come in combination doses of 2-6 virus strains per application.
It's obvious when you think about it - fighting one "bug" is much easier than fighting multiple bugs.
Recommendations
- As much as possible use single dose vaccines that don't require a preservative.
- As much as possible use single strain vaccines or at least limit the number of strains per application.
- Do not vaccinate an immune stressed pet - if your pet is sick, weak, malnourished, receiving drugs or is having or recently had surgery.
There are risks.
Be informed and make sure the rewards out weigh the risks for your pet.
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