 |
Re: [RC] FDA Warning Letter to Fort Dodge - heidiHeidi My horse has no open lesions How do you know that? It is entirely possible that he could have had a gutteral pouch infection or some other open lesion in his nasopharyngeal area at the time the vaccine was administered. That is a known risk of the vaccine. Apparently your vet felt that the risk of strangles outweighed the risk of the vaccine. A spinal tap sample was sent to Gluck, to the Vet who developed the FD IN Strangles vaccine, it was confirmed that my horse suffered an adverse reaction to the IN vaccine and it was confirmed that it caused the brain abscess. That risk exists. It is a known risk prior to vaccination. That does not make it Fort Dodge's fault. Vaccination is ALWAYS a matter of calculated risk--do the risks of the disease outweigh the risks of the vaccine? I have no doubt that "something" was wrong with the vaccine that was used on my horse and the stallion that died. What are the odds that two horses vaccinated from the same vaccine vial would have adverse reactions that caused bastard strangles inside their bodies? It is always easy to try to find blame elsewhere. And yes, bad batches do happen--to EVERY company. That is a part of the risk. with the exception of the IN strangles (when appropriate) simply because atthis point it is the best thing on the market for preventing strangles I personally spoke with the researcher who developed the Fort Dodge IN strangles, and he is very concerned with the high amount of adverse reactions. In fact he is in the process of developing a new strangles vaccine, this research is being funded by the Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation. Certainly the risk level of the vaccine is a concern. But the IN vaccine, despite its reaction rate, is far LESS reactive than the IM strangles vaccines that preceeded it. I'm glad that more research continues to find a better way--but until that research yields a better vaccine (which it undoubtedly will someday), I stand by my statement. The IN vaccine, with all of its imperfections, is still the best thing currently on the market to protect horses against strangles. Would I use in a herd not at risk? No way! But would I use it in the face of an outbreak? Having seen strangles decimate several herds, you betcha I would. In a heartbeat! I never asked any one to boycott Fort Dodge, I stated that I would never again use their products, as I no longer trust Fort Dodge, their products nor the Vets who work in the Professional Unit. That is certainly your perogative. I just felt that the entire thread was a bit one-sided, damning Fort Dodge and trying to link an unrelated FDA warning letter to the reaction in your horse, without taking a more balanced overall view. As I stated in my earlier post, I am not particularly a Fort Dodge fan either--but I hope I can keep sufficient perspective to not deprive my horses of something they might need, just because Fort Dodge happens to be the source. FWIW, I didn't vaccinate for WNV either--but only because I am not in a high-risk area, hence the disease risk did not outweigh the vaccination risk for my particular herd, IMO, not because it was Fort Dodge that made the vaccine. Had I lived in the midwest or the southeast, I would have done it at the drop of a hat, and would have been grateful that Fort Dodge had made the effort to get a first-generation vaccine (warts and all) on the market. They did the same thing with Pneumabort K--I treated countless vaccine reactions, but I can only begin to imagine the numbers of unborn foals they saved with that vaccine, before somebody made a better one. Somebody has to be the pioneer. If we all had to wait for all products to be perfect and risk-free before we used them, most of us would be sick, cold, hungry, and naked. Or dead. Heidi ============================================================ The whole ride experience can be very hard, and at times you question why you put yourself through such abuse. But then you remember all those moments when you pop up over a hill and are suddenly surrounded by the most stunning views. It's just you and your horse and for a moment time stops and you can hear the angels sing. Therein lies the addiction, at least for me. ~ Leslie Beyers ridecamp.net information: http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/ ============================================================
|