Her Vet wants to vaccinate for Lepto..Yes or No?
From: Dr Andrew Jones
Author: Veterinary Secrets Revealed
Website:
Re: Her Vet wants to vaccinate for Lepto..Yes or No?
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Good morning Veterinary Secrets readers.
Many of you responded after my newsletters on vaccines,
and I am wanting to address some of your specific questions.
First here is a question from Pam, who vaccinates her pets
very infrequently, her veterinarian supports this, but her
vet wants her to have Leptospirosis vaccine..
>>>>Hi, I have a vaccine question for you.
We have (currently) 4 dogs & 3 cats. 2 cats never go outside,
and the 1 that does lives inside a heated building
on our property where I run my business.
We have not given the inside cats any vaccines since the
initial ones when they were kittens and will never
will either.
The one that goes outside gets a rabies every 3 years.
We’ve backed off on everything with the dogs except for
rabies every 3 years. Our vet knows how we feel about
all the over-vaccinating and respects that. But
this past spring she said the only thing she would fight
us on was the lepto because she’s seen too many cases of it.
What is your opinion on this?
Thanks for this awesome program you’ve created to help
all of us take better care of our babies.
Take care, Pam<<<<<<<<<<<
Thank YOU for the kind words Pam!
Now to your question.
First here is What it is….
Description:
Leptospires are thin, filamentous, motile bacteria that are spiral
in shape and have hooked ends.
Transmission of the infection may occur via several routes, such as
orally (primarily contact with urine), venereally, across the placenta,
through broken skin (e.g. bite wounds), or by the ingestion of infected
tissues. The bacteria may also be acquired from contact with contaminated
soil, food, water, bedding and other fomites. The bacteria prefer soil
that is moist and has a neutral pH, as well as stagnant or slow-moving
warm water. 1,2Water is most often contaminated from the urine of infected
animals, as the bacteria may be shed in the urine for months after an
infection.
Because Leptospires prefer warm weather and are readily
killed by freezing, the incidence of clinical disease is greatest in
late summer to early winter (August – December), in the southern areas
of the United States, and in semitropical regions around the world.
Disease prevalence also increases after periods of wet weather.
Leptospires penetrate the mucous membranes or abraded skin and produce
a bacteremia within 3-8 days. Infection then spreads to a variety of
tissues, including the kidneys, liver, spleen, pancreas, CNS, genital
tract, and eyes. The bacteria commonly localize in the kidneys, causing
impaired renal function. Acute nephritis develops and may progress to
chronic renal failure.
Leptospires appear in the urine about 12-15 days post-infection, and
may persist for up to four years. 2 Infection of the liver is also
common and results in hepatic necrosis and icterus. Historically,
renal disease has often been associated with L. canicola and L.
grippotyphosa infections, and liver disease has been associated
with L. icterohaemorrhagiae and L. pomona infections (especially
in dogs < 6 months old). Overlap occurs in the clinical syndromes
caused by the various serovars, however.
PREVENTION..
It MAY be prevented with Vaccines, BUT that depends upon the specific
strain of Lepto..
Over the last 15 years, the serovars involved in clinical cases of
canine leptospirosis have shifted from predominately L. canicola and
L. icterohaemorrhagiae to L. pomona, L. grippotyphosa, L. autumnalis,
and L. bratislava. Historically most vaccines for dogs contained
primarily the serovars L. canicola and L. icterohaemorrhagiae.
With the realization that other serovars are now contributing more
to clinical disease in dogs, vaccines have recently been produced that
also contain L. pomona, L. hardjo and L. grippotyphosa.
POST VACCINAL REACTIONS
Postvaccinal reactions are common with the leptospiral bacterins.
They include hypersensitivity reactions, localized inflammation at
the injection site, and generalized malaise (sometimes with fever).
Prevention of leptospirosis also involves the elimination of carrier
states and the avoidance of potential sources of the bacteria in
nature. Isolation of infected animals, the use of doxycycline to
eliminate leptospiruria, strict sanitation in kennels and hospital
settings, control of local rodent populations, and elimination of
stagnant or warm, slow-moving water are all measures that may help
prevent this disease. The bacteria are usually sensitive to the
iodine-based disinfectants.
SO what do I advise?
Well that partially depends on where you live, and your
dog’s lifestyle. If you area has abundant Lepto, AND your dogs
are regularly in slow moving warm water, then you could CONSIDER
the Vaccine.
I for one am NOT convinced that the Lepto vaccine is that effective…
There are MULTIPLE strains of the disease, AND it is very difficult to
create an effective vaccine for anything other than a virus.
I started in practice 15 years ago, and I once regularly vaccinated for
Lepto..AND I saw a LARGE number of serious VACCINE REACTIONS.
I DO NOT advize giving it to ANY of my local clients here, BUT I live
in an area that FREEZES ( it is below ZERO now), hence Lepto is not
a problem.
As for WHAT you should do?
Talk to your Veterinarian and explain your concerns.
Its ALL about RISK/BALANCE
If you choose to NOT VACCINATE for Lepto, and one of your
dogs contracts the disease, they can generally be treated early
on with a penicillin based antibiotic..but there is the RISK of
some serious long term side effects.
THEN there is ALSO the RISK of some serious LONG TERM side effects
with the Vaccine.
WHAT would I do??
NOT VACCINATE.
My personal opinion and I really feel that the Vaccine RISKS outweigh
the REWARDS of protecting against POTENTIAL DISEASE.
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P.S. If you are wanting to get your hands on WHAT Pam is talking
about, and find the BEST ways to PROTECT your Dog or Cat
without VACCINES then you should visit:
It’s Your Pet. Heal Them At Home!
Best Wishes,
Dr Andrew Jones, DVM
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I am curious if you are doing the swine flu vcanice also? I don’t believe that vcanices cause autism, but they can cause inflammation and therefore I think that children whose autism is related to some sort of auto-immune reaction are not unlikely to experience some aggravation of symptoms. I find it fascinating that in all the debate, I have yet to see anyone point out that hte CDC fact sheets for these vcanices warns to be cautious with children with autoimmune disorders. I am not really anti-vax, but I have not done any vaccinations since dx which was about 8 months ago, since none of them seems really critical to have at this point and I figure, why heap more inflammation on an already struggling brain? But I am really torn about the swine flu vcanice. I worry about that one mostly because it seems like it was rushed to market. I am having a hard time trusting it. Not to sound like a commie, but I have seen too much from the inside to trust corporate America. And while privilege prevents me from telling you why, let me tell you that I have absolutely zero faith in the fda. negative faith, even, if that is possible.