Vaccine Non Responder Dogs

As those who have come to know me will know, I am just a tad passionate about the subject of vaccinations; more so about the over vaccinating of our beloved dogs. In my puppy packs I include copious amounts of information about the subject, when the subject comes up in conversation it's near impossible to shut me up, I subscribe to a number of lists to get as much information as I can, and so it goes.

The following is a piece of interesting information on the subject of non responder dogs to vaccinations and re-vaccination that I wanted to share with you all.

VACCINE NON-RESPONDER

W. Jean Dodds, DVM
Hemopet
938 Stanford Street
Santa Monica, CA 90403
310-828-4804; Fax 310-828-8251

www.hemopet.org
hemopet@hotmail.com


The well respected vaccinologist , Dr. Ron Schultz, says that low titer or non-responder dogs should be given one more booster only, then re-titered a month later. IF titers are still low, then there's absolutely no point in going further. To keep re-vaccinating a non-responder, you run the risk of causing adverse reactions. Also, non-responder status is genetically determined and so other relatives can be the same.

Basically, I think the best way to explain the non-responder is as follows: There are three main branches to the immune system that convey resistance to disease -- the circulating immunity in the blood which is measured by vaccine and other titers; the immunity in body secretions which provides a mechanical layer of antibodies to protect surfaces from attack by organisms; and the immunity from cells in the body called lymphocytes and tissues like lymph nodes. In some cases, the person or animal doesn't produce measurable immunity in the circulating blood and these individuals are called vaccine titer "non-responders" -- a genetically determined situation. However, these same non-responders remain clinically healthy because their other 2 immune systems are protecting them adequately.