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Like Dr. Newell and others, I'm really concerned by
some of the statements made by Jennifer Judkins. The statement below
really shows a lack of understanding of the vaccination process:
>Among holistic veterinarians, the
concensus is even stronger that vaccines may be either ineffective or harmful,
or both. Dr. Donna Starita of Boring, OR, feels that if vaccines are given to
horses, they can safely be given to yearlings as single vaccines, spaced a month
apart. That should confer lifetime immunity and in the case of a broodmare, she
f eels the offspring should even inherit the immunity from that dam's yearling
shots.
Excuse me? Vaccines do not alter the genetic component that the dam
give to the foal, but rather confer an immune response that causes a rise in
titre toward the end of pregnancy and a subsequent concentration of antibodies
in the colostrum that are then passed to the foal. While many
veterinarians agree that horses are often overvaccinated (myself included) and
while the recommendation of single vaccines and spacing is a good one, there are
some vaccines which are needed in some environments much earlier than one year
(tetanus for one, and most foals will respond well to it virtually
immediately after birth, their maternal antibodies wear off within several
weeks, and the maternal antibodies tend not to interfere with their response to
the vaccine) to vaccines on the other end of the spectrum (such as
influenza--where maternal antibodies have a profound effect on response and the
most current information I've seen suggests not vaccinating for influenza at all
until a youngster is 15 months or older). In between we have vaccines such
as EEE and WEE, where the disease incidence is seasonal, and which have NEVER
been recommended as a "Spring Thing", although consumer pressure has driven the
development of the "one-size-fits-all" combo spring vaccine.
>Dr. Kim Henneman of Park City, UT, does not vaccinate her own horses at
home. For competition horses, she gives only Eastern and Western Encephalitis
and Tetanus, and those only every 2 years. She feels that some of the nerve
culture based vaccines are predisposing factors to EPM, that horses are the most
over-vaccinated of all domestic animals, and that every vaccine has side effects
and repercussions in the future health of that animal. Dr. Henneman also
recommends that if you choose to vaccinate competition horses, do so at least 4
weeks prior to an event.
Most of the recommendations there have merit, but I'd sure be interested to
know what sort of reputable double-blind study has suggested the predisposition
to EPM by giving nerve-culture-based vaccines. I'd suspect, instead, that
horses with other predisposing factors to EPM and already harboring the organism
simply have a dip in immunity at vaccination time that tips the scales, just as
they would with any other stressor.
>Dr. Paul Bruton of Southlake, TX, feels that the respiratory vaccines
(flu, rhino, strangles) are a total waste of time.
Many have low efficacy, but just as with WNV, the vaccinated horses who DO
get sick tend to mount an immune response far faster than their non-vaccinated
peers, and subsequently have much more minor cases of the diseases. I
don't count that as a "total waste of time."
>American Holistic Veterinary Medical President Dr. Joyce Harman
believes that frequent vaccines of any kind weaken the immune system and thus
perpetuate the very diseases they were designed to prevent. She feels most cases
of rhino are minor, and disagrees with the use of ant ibiotics and Bute or
Banamine. The fever is needed to "cook" the virus and antibiotics are
ineffective against a virus, and only weaken the immune system more. She
recommends boosting the immune system with vitamin C and probiotics.
Certainly antibiotics and antiinflamatory drugs are
overused, not only in equine medicine but also in human medicine. Each
case should be evaluated on its own merits, and medications prescribed (or not
prescribed) accordingly. In uncomplicated viral cases, antibiotics are not
indicated, but they are of great use if there are secondary bacterial
invaders. Likewise lowgrade fever has its physiological
uses, but a good veterinarian or doctor knows when to draw the line when
the animal starts to "cook" his own body to the degree that damage occurs,
and prescribes antiinflamatory drugs accordingly. What
one should or should not do to treat the illness does not in any way
suggest that the horses would have been better off not vaccinated.
Dr. Newell is absolutely right as well that
deworming has to be tailored to the specific animals in a specific management
system. The concept that horses would be better off if only dewormed twice
a year would fit if we could all turn our horses out on a few thousand
acres--but truly, very few modern horses are actually managed under such
conditions. Those who are not (the vast majority) need more attention paid
to parasite control than that.
There are some good kernels in Jennifer's
statements, but it takes an astute reader to separate the wheat from the
chaff.
Heidi
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