Re: Re:Vaccination/Sarcoids Decision

["Susan Garlinghouse" <suendavid@worldnet.att.net>]

> but some horse just don't handle multiple shots all at once.
> I am curious what some of the ridecamp vets feel about this.
>
> Linda


I'm not a ridecamp vet for another 24 months, 3 weeks, two days (not that
I'm counting or anything)<g>, but I can pass along what they're teaching us
in vet school, which is pretty close to what you just said, Linda.  There
does seem to be a decrease in adverse reactions and better titers if vax are
spread out a few weeks apart.  What they told us is that we have to weigh
those benefits against the risk of decreased owner compliance---that is, is
the owner likely to follow through with vaccinations with a repetitive
schedule, versus getting it all done at once.  They taught us the same thing
with the small animal vaccines, and most of the vaccinations that have
traditionally been given annually, they're now only recommending be given
once every THREE years.  The reason why most vaccines are given annually
isn't because there is any definitive data measuring antibody titers---it's
because that's what the vaccine companies tested, it was effective, and so
that's what they market it as and recommend.  Nobody ever tested to see if
LESS frequent vaccinations would do the trick as well.  Once they started
seeing more adverse reactions (sarcoids in kitties comes to mind), they
started doing more testing, and now alot of the vet schools are teaching the
students that once every three years is fine.  The only exception is an
annual rabies shot for cats, because the three year rabies vaccine had a
high incidence of sarcoids, while the one-year vaccine doesnt cause sarcoids
at all.

Anyway, just some food for thought.

Susan G