2004-05-05 Open Letter to the Vet Times by Dr Nick Thompson

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Nick Thompson
BCc (Hon), BVM&S, VetMFHom, MRCVS

In January of 2004 a number of Vets signed an Open Letter to the Vet Times. One of these is DR Nick Thompson BSc.(Hons), BVM&S, VetMFHom, MRCVS, Holisticvet Ltd.

DR Thompson has written his own personal letter to further clarify the issues surrounding vaccinations of dogs and cats. Below you can read his letter in full.

We extend our sincere gratitude to Dr Thompson for allowing us include his letter on our website.
__________________________________________________________________________
5th May 2004.

Dear Sir or Madam,

Re the Recent debates as to whether annual booster vaccination of animals is necessary.

We appreciate that the recent developments (1) in the ongoing controversy regarding annual booster vaccines for dogs and cats has left the veterinary profession and the pet owning public in a dilemma as to the direction they should take, especially when considering the animal welfare and consumer protection issues involved.

It seems that on one hand you have the vaccine manufacturers, who appear to be hiding behind legislation and the advice of an industry report (2). Their stance that annual vaccination must be continued relies on the following points

(a) They do not know the actual duration of immunity

(b) Vaccines do not cause significant harm, so annual vaccination is acceptable.

This is also the stated view of the veterinary organization i.e. the BVA and BSAVA (3)

However, the incoming President of the BSAVA DR Ian Mason has been reported as saying, after due consideration of the evidence, the current recommendations on vaccination of animals may need to be refined (4). Vaccine manufacturers must have known about the changes in recommendations in response to detailed evidence in the US for some time, and have been affiliated to UK groups, such as the Cat Group (11) that have been looking at the work quoted (1). So far it seems the only action to be taken has been that of Intervet UK in extending their duration of immunity for Distemper, Hepatitis and Parvo to 3 years. While this is to be welcomed, no mention has been made yet of the Cat situation.

On the other side there is a small but growing number of veterinary surgeons and a strongly supportive public who are citing recent reports and research (5,6,7,17,18 ) and conclude

(a) That duration of immunity for parvovirus, adenovirus, distemper
(5), and feline enteritis (18 ), is established as 7 years, and for feline calicivirus and herpes (5,18 ) is established for at least 4 years, and it seems that giving booster vaccinations does not offer any further protection (6). Therefore, annual vaccination is not needed for dogs and cats (with the exception of Leptospirosis, discussed below)

(b) That vaccines can cause harm (5,8,9,11,14,18 ) and therefore unnecessary vaccination should be avoided if at all possible.

Additionally they also consider that information from the manufacturers is notable. These state that about 50% of dogs (10) and 2/3 of cats (10,11) in the UK are not vaccinated at all or only infrequently, but where are the reported outbreaks of the diseases one would expect if the duration of immunity were so short as to need annual Boosters?

While following the recent debate, there seems to have been only two arguments put forward for continuing annual booster vaccines in dogs and cats.

First there has been suggestion that the originating letter calling for cessation of booster vaccines was written by homeopaths and by inference should be ignored, in fact this was cited as relevant correspondence for the debate in a mailing from a vaccine manufacturer to all vets in the UK (12) and the profession is misguidedly it seems seeking to use this (13). Whilst it is true that some of the signatories have interests in this field, it is certainly not the case that all the signatories do. All are scientifically trained Vets in the first instance, all recommend initial vaccination, and they quote the recent published orthodo x research of others.

Secondly, and perhaps more significantly, is the argument for Leptospirosis vaccine, where it is claimed there is a poor duration of immunity and so annual vaccination of dogs only for this must continue. This has been the basis of much research in the USA, and it is appropriate that we in the UK are aware of the findings. We summarize them below <SNIP> Read entire article. It is good!

2004-05-05 Open Letter to the Vet Times by Dr Nick Thompson

2004-05-05 Open Letter to the Vet Times by Dr Nick Thompson

2004-05-05 Open Letter to the Vet Times by Dr Nick Thompson

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