There is an ongoing discussion about the safety and efficacy of human vaccines but not much is heard about the excessive vaccination of pets, a steady income for veterinarian clinics. There are however studies done on pet vaccinations and critical voices do exist.
Lack of Scientific Basis for Annual Vaccinations
In an interview, featured on “Your Natural Dog with Angela Ardolino,” Dr. Todd Cooney, a veterinarian with over 20 years of experience, discusses the practice of dog vaccinations and makes several critical points.
Dr. Cooney asserts that the recommendation for annual vaccinations was not based on science but was driven by marketing. He says that early vaccine inserts did not contradict this practice, leading to its widespread adoption without scientific justification. He refers to a study from the 1990s by Ron Schultz et al which argued that annual vaccinations are unnecessary and potentially harmful. His studies showed that immunity lasts very long, some for a dog’s or a cat’s lifetime, and that particularily for diseases like kennel cough annual vaccinations for low-risk animals could pose more risks than be of any benefit. Over-vaccination can lead to adverse effects, such as immune-mediated reactions or injection-site reactions, prompting a need to balance benefits and risks. Despite this, many veterinarians continue to recommend annual boosters, as evidenced by the common practice of sending out postcards for annual vaccinations.
Dr. Cooney criticizes the minimal education on vaccines in veterinary school, stating that during his third year, only one hour was dedicated to the topic. This lecture was brief and was about how to follow the vaccine schedule, and shows a lack of thorough training on vaccine risks and benefits.
Dr. Cooney shares his experience with a grooming and boarding business where, despite requiring vaccinations, dogs still contracted diseases. This observation led him to question the efficacy of vaccines, suggesting that vaccinated dogs were not fully protected against the diseases they were vaccinated for.
Dr. Cooney describes his decision to limit vaccinations in his practice to rabies only, which led to conflicts with other local veterinarians. They warned of potential chaos, predicting increased disease outbreaks, but he reports no parvo cases in his practice, contrasting with others who continued annual vaccinations. The World Small Animal Veterinary Association (WSAVA) recommends vaccinating dogs every third year after the initial series, aligning with product label guidelines. This recommendation contrasts with the annual vaccination practice Dr. Cooney criticizes, highlighting a discrepancy between scientific guidelines and common veterinary practice.
A couple of studies on Autoimmune Diseases
The Purdue University study from the 1990s, called “Vaccine-Induced Autoimmunity in the Dog,” published in 1999, and involved researchers Harm Hogenesch, Juan Azcona-Olivera, Catharine Scott-Moncrieff, Paul W. Snyder, and Larry T. Glickman. They examined if early vaccination alters the immune system, potentially leading to autoimmune diseases, using two pregnant Beagles whose pups were divided into vaccinated and unvaccinated groups, followed for 14 weeks post-first vaccination and found that 100% of vaccinated dogs developed autoantibodies after just one vaccine, while none of the unvaccinated dogs did. The vaccinated group showed significant immune system alterations, including the production of autoantibodies to various self-proteins like fibronectin, laminin, DNA, albumin, cytochrome C,cardiolipin and collagen. All of these are linked to autoimmune conditions, such as systemic lupus erythematosus, and conditions involving blood clots, poor clotting, and neurological issues, supporting the suggestion that vaccines cause development of autoimmune diseases in susceptible individuals.
A 1996 study, Vaccine‐Associated Immune‐Mediated Hemolytic Anemia in the Dog, found clinical evidence for a temporal relationship between vaccination and the onset of immune-mediated hemolytic anemia (IMHA) in 26% of dogs within a month of vaccination. The abstract states: “In a controlled retrospective study, idiopathic IMHA was identified in 58 dogs over a 27–month period and compared with a randomly selected control group of 70 dogs, the distribution of cases versus time since vaccination was different (P < .05). Fifteen of the dogs (26%) had been vaccinated within 1 month of developing IMHA (P < .0001), whereas in the control group no marked increase in frequency of presentation was seen in the first month after vaccination. The dogs with IMHA were divided into 2 groups based on time since vaccination: the vaccine IMHA group included dogs vaccinated within 1 month of developing IMHA; the nonvaccine IMHA group included dogs that developed IMHA more than 1 month after vaccination. The recently vaccinated dogs with IMHA (vaccine IMHA group) had significantly lower platelet counts (P < .05) and a trend towards increased prevalence of intravascular hemolysis and autoagglutination when compared with the nonvaccine IMHA group. Similar mortality rates were seen in the vaccine IMHA group (60%) and the nonvaccine IMHA group (44%), with the majority of fatalities (>75%) occurring in the first 3 weeks after presentation.”
A Canadian retrospective study
A Canadian retrospective study named Severe Side Effects of Vaccines in the Veterinary Setting done by Vadala, Poddighe, Laurino and Palmieri used clinical databases and scientific litterature and collected data between 2010 and 2014 from veterinary hospitals, universities, and private animal clinics for animals vaccinated within 2 years, with focus on cats and dogs. Veterinarians are not obliged to report vaccine reactions, so the cumulative incidence of vaccination adverse events data between dogs and cats were from reports to the vaccine manufacturer and/or to the Canadian Centre for Veterinary Biologics (CCVB) by the veterinarian or pet owners.
The Surveillance Data showed the most common adverse responses for dogs were allergic reactions (2 663 cases per 10 000 sold doses) not including anaphylaxis (332), vomiting and lethargy while for cats lethargy (1 473) and vomiting were leading adverse reactions to vaccines. There were 36 cases of type III allergic reactions, including cutaneous vasculopathy and Arthus reactions, which mainly occured after rabies vaccination.
Neurological symptoms were found in dogs at a rate of 1 186 cases per 10 000 doses, including symptoms like head tremor, head bobbing, encephalitis, head pressing, convulsions/seizures, rigidity, weakness, altered reflexes, often occuring in animals showing allergic reactions or pronounced inflammatory reactions.
Cats have a tendency to get Sarcomas at the site of injection, be it injected therapeutics like steroids, NSAIDs, non-absorbable sutures, microchip devices or vaccines. It is the most serious adverse effect following vaccination in cats. Invasive sarcomas, mostly fibrosarcomas, develop aggressively with a rate of metastasis from 10-28%. Current hypothesis is that “chronic inflammatory reaction at the site of injections provides a trigger for subsequent malignant transformation” according to European Advisory Board on Cat Diseases. It is a recommended practise for veterinarians to put the injection in the tail or a limb of a cat as that is easier to remove should a tumour develop. The Canadian study showed that Feline injection site Sarcomas were found to be at an incidence of 1-10 per 10 000 vaccinated cats.
Immune-Mediated Disorders, type II disorders like immune-mediated thrombocytopenia and hemolytic anemia occured in 62 reported cases per 10.000 doses. Protective and sesceptible gene haplotypes were identified in dogs, demonstrating genetic predisposition.
A number of case studies were shown of Vaccine-Associated Acute Polyneuropathy, Vaccine-Associated Cutaneous Neoplasms, Vaccine-Associated Neuropathologic Damage in dogs, Vaccine-Associated Myofasciitis in Ferrets, and of where 80-100% of 36 cats controlled 21 days post-vaccination of inactivated rabies vaccines showed a development of Vaccine-Associated Sarcoma.
There was also included an experimental study where 15 dogs, given rabies and canine distemper vaccines, developed significant increase in lgG antibodies reactive with 10 autoantigens, while unvaccinated dogs showed no increase at all. The suggestion was that the variety of auto-antigens showed a polyclonal activation or adjuvant reaction. Higher adjuvant concentrations were associated with more frequent development of autoantibodies.
“Vaccinosis,” where symptoms of autoimmune or other chronic conditions, such as lupus, thyroid issues, and chronic skin diseases, appear shortly after vaccination are more prevalent than commonly acknowledged, particularly as traditional vets may not fully recognize this link. How much that may change now, when these “traditional” pet vaccines quietly and without discussion, are being replaced by mRNA injections, only time will tell. The mRNA deployment was a disaster for human health, what are the odds it will be anything else for our pets?
