Re: rabies titer

["Duncan Fletcher" <dfletche@gte.net>]

Just had an interesting discussion with vet I ran into on the trail. He stated that vaccines stimulated 2 different aspects of the immune system - antibody response and cell-mediated response. Unfortunated titers measure only the anti-body response and there is nothing to indicate cell-mediated response tracks antibody response. Cell mediated response is apparently particularly important in viral diseases. Anyone with expertise in this area care to comment.

If I had a horse with Patty's experience, I would probably take my chances based on antibody response alone, but  I know that others are relying on titers routinely.

Duncan Fletcher
dfletche@gte.net

-----Original Message-----
From: Patty Lambert <esppatty@juno.com>
To: ridecamp@endurance.net <ridecamp@endurance.net>
Date: Wednesday, July 15, 1998 7:29 AM
Subject: rabies titer


>Thought this would be of interest to you all. I just received the sesults
>of the rabies titer test done on my horse - the one who nearly died last
>('97) spring from vaccine reactions. Not wanting to subject him to any
>unnecessary vaccines this year, I had the titer done. It came back 1 to
>1400. The levels expected of horses who are being shipped to Europe are 1
>to 5. With this high level, I suspect he won't need any vaccine for a
>long time, but will do another titer next year to observe the drop.
>
>Patty  
>
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