[NAGDU] Vaccines

[Tracy Carcione]

The big animal hospital in New York City has a blog on the latest vaccine
recommendations for dogs.  I found it interesting, and they have a tool that
recommends what your dog should get based on its lifestyle.  I'm pasting it,
but it's more useful to go to the website so you can follow the links.

Tracy

 

https://www.amcny.org/blog/2023/01/18/what-vaccines-does-my-dog-really-need/

 

What vaccines does my dog really need? - The Animal Medical Center

Blog

January 18, 2023 

Everyday Medicine

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What vaccines does my dog really need?

William, a puppy

The Schwarzman Animal Medical Center has been an accredited member of the
American Animal Hospital Association (AAHA) since 1976. The AAHA's mission
is

to "simplify the journey towards excellence for veterinary practices." One
method of doing so is by developing evidence-based guidelines to help
veterinarians

practice high quality medicine. AAHA recently convened a task force to 

update its guidelines on canine vaccination.

I will highlight some important features of the revised guidelines below.

Core and Non-Core

The 2022 Canine Vaccination Task Force continued the designations core and
non-core vaccines used in previous guidelines. Core vaccines are required
for

every dog and include: canine distemper virus, canine adenovirus type 2,
canine parvovirus type 2, and rabies. Non-core vaccines are recommended for
only

some dogs and the recommendation is based on the dog's lifestyle, geographic
location, and risk of exposure. The word non-core does not imply less
important. For

example if you live in an area which Lyme disease is prevalent, that
non-core vaccine is critical for your dog. In addition to Lyme vaccine,
non-core vaccines

include: canine leptospirosis vaccine, canine Bordetella vaccine, and canine
influenza vaccine.

No Consensus on Leptospirosis Vaccination

Most task forces vote on their recommendations. The canine vaccination task
force unanimously voted to continue the list of core vaccines from the
previous

recommendations. The task force was split on vaccination against 

leptospirosis. Some

task force members felt this should be a core vaccine because most dogs in
the United States are at risk of contracting leptospirosis. The incidence of

leptospirosis is increasing and vaccinating dogs against this disease
indirectly helps to protect people from contracting it. If infected with
Leptospira

sp., 

vaccinated dogs shed fewer organisms into the environment,

decreasing the risk of human exposure.

In small breed dogs and puppies, the Leptospira vaccine is more likely to
cause a vaccination reaction. For this reason, the Task Force suggests that
the

initial dose of the vaccine be administered at or after 12 weeks of age.

Parvovirus: Vaccinate Early and Often

Canine parvovirus vaccine is a core vaccine. The disease caused by 

parvovirus

made news during the pandemic when there seemed to be a 

mini-outbreak of parvovirus here in New York City.

Because not all puppies develop immunity to parvovirus until they are 16
weeks of age, the task force recommended a parvovirus vaccine every 2-4
weeks

beginning at 6-8 weeks of age until at least 16 weeks of age.  In areas of
high risk for canine parvovirus, the age for the final puppy parvovirus
vaccine

should be administered at 18-20 weeks.

Lyme Disease

Lyme disease is a tick-borne illness. Vaccination against Lyme disease falls
into the non-core group of vaccines. If your geographic location doesn't
have

the tick that carries Lyme disease, then your dog may not need a Lyme
vaccine. Keep in mind if your travel with your dog to an area of high Lyme
disease

prevalence, you should talk to your veterinarian about vaccinating your dog.
In a 

recent large dataset,

states with ?5% seroprevalence in tested dogs included (in order of highest
to lowest prevalence) Connecticut (15.5% seroprevalence), Massachusetts,
Vermont,

Maine, Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, New York, New Jersey, West
Virginia, Minnesota, Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, Wisconsin, and District

of Columbia. Dogs living in these geographic locations would be a high risk
for contracting Lyme disease.

Calculate Your Dog's Lifestyle and Vaccination Recommendation

AAHA has created an online tool

to help you understand your dog's risk of contracting a disease your
veterinarian can prevent with vaccination. Based on your dog's age, the
calculator

creates a recommended vaccination schedule.  Of course, your dog's
veterinarian is the final word on vaccinations for your dog, but this tool
will help

you to understand their recommendation.

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