Call Your Shot... $500 Bet
Project 2001

        by Barbara J. Andrews - Part Two of Two
Call Your Shot $500 Bet Part One

Pun intended. My five one hundred dollars bills are still on the table. While we wait for someone to take my bet, let's continue to explore major causes for immune-system disease.

Lyme disease evolved from "unheard of" to a priority subject and almost simultaneously, there was a vaccine. It's almost as if the drug company had developed the cure before the disease became a problem. One has to wonder where all the new vaccinatable diseases come from? How widespread are they? Is the significance of some viruses only as a line on a financial plotting graph? Will the efficiency of a new vaccine outweigh its possible side effects? How does one get factual information on the frequency and seriousness of side effects? Unfortunately, there are not enough scientists willing to candidly discuss these issues, much less raise their own pertinent questions. One does not bite the hand that feeds....

One of the most famous (and credible) of all is Dr. Jonas Salk whose biological research resulted in the polio vaccine. The December 1988 issue of DVM magazine featured a Vaccine Roundtable discussion in which the many benefits of vaccines were weighed against the risks, both known and suspected.

Young animals are at higher risk of contracting vaccine-induced disease due to their undeveloped immune systems. Dr. Swango (Auburn University Assoc. Professor of Virology, specializing in canine virus diseases) cites high risk in "Any animal under 4 weeks of age..." and went on to say that "even in 6 to 8 weeks old puppies the distemper vaccine may occasionally induce disease." He stipulated that vaccine disease is more likely in compromised puppies and kittens. Dr. Swango also makes a mind-stopping statement. "There is a difference between vaccination and immunization." i.e. vaccination doesn't guarantee immunity.

Dr. Tizard (Professor and Head of Microbiology and Parasitology, TX A&M) acknowledges "There is a problem of vaccine-associated disease that cannot be avoided."  Dr. Salk reminds us "to be altogether pragmatic when the disease is of far greater risk than the methods that are employed in their control." For example, the risk of widespread rabies is far greater than the possible result of vaccine-induced reactions or disease. As science has advanced, we now know that modified live vaccines shed, mutate in the host, and are capable of inducing disease, therefore killed rabies is now used. Regarding the choice of killed over modified live products, Dr. Salk emphatically states "with the killed virus vaccine we can eliminate the disease altogether, both vaccine-induced and naturally-occurring." 

In Part One, we touched on the effect of vaccines on the immune system and the corresponding increase in immune related diseases in the last decade. We accept that vaccines are meant to challenge the immune system. Our bodies whip the weakened form of the virus and therefore are primed and ready to kill the more virulent bug should it ever try to invade us. Works great. Except when we OVER challenge the immune system. That's when we become "allergic" and susceptible to a lot of puny bugs that we should have sloughed off.

If we keep pecking away at our defense system, year after year, with this shot and that, with a wide assortment of chemicals and toxins, with "medicines" which are proven to confuse and weaken the immune system; sooner or later, that defense will crumble.

Now, about our pets. We humans only get "puppy shots." I don't know one person that gets yearly boosters for polio, whooping cough, measles, etc, etc. Do you? Then why do you suppose our dogs need yearly shots? Experts say they don't! The body keeps tabs on what virus it's already defeated and if the immune system is strong, (with but few exceptions such as tetanus) it is able to ward off a subsequent attack from the same virus. Furthermore, if we accept Dr. Salk's words on herd immunization, a healthy dog is constantly accumulating new immunities from vaccinated dogs.

The knowledge I share with you could well impact the profit level of a clinic that refuses to move forward into preventative health care rather than health care maintenance. Knowing that, I realize some vets are beginning to seethe and are already planning a scathing rebuttal. That's good because in order to debate, the good veterinarian will do his or her own research and in so doing, may well come to share the beliefs of a growing number of medical doctors and animal care professionals.
Here's the nightmare. We start our babies out with wormings and big-time challenges to their UNDEVELOPED system and we keep at it and keep at it until they are at least 16 weeks old - or dead from the parvo or corona they shouldn't have caught. If they break with disease, we're always told it was because of that window. The window exists - but so does the reality of vaccine-induced disease!

If they survive the first weeks of constant bombardment, we then hit them with a rabies shot. NOT to protect the dog. It is to protect the human population and rightly so. Compared to human lives, animals are expendable and that's as it should be. It doesn't mean that we should close our eyes to the possible side-effects of rabies vaccination, failing to recognize and respond to symptoms should they occur in our own beloved dogs.

OK, so about six months after the potent rabies vaccine, we assault them again with boosters and probably get them up the nose again while we're at it, and by now they're wearing flea collars or are being dipped and dusted, and of course, they're getting that heartworm poison. Six months later, another rabies shot; hopefully your state will let the dog recover for two to four years before blasting him with yet another rabies booster. By the way, who decides that dogs in some states must be "challenged" every year with potent rabies vaccine whereas dogs in other states are immune for up to four years? The state Veterinary association? The Legislature? Who????

It's along about this time that an estimated fifty percent of "cared for" dogs develop immune and/or thyroid problems. Many are simply treated as "allergies" and as such, the dog often receives medications specifically designed to QUIET the immune system!! Hard to believe isn't it? Strays escape the onslaught of care most of us provide our dogs..... and notably, their immune systems are strong. Of course, those of us who notice that interesting fact are just asking to be blamed for "inbreeding" our dogs and harming their immune systems. Our fault again!

DVM June 1991 carried an interesting article by Priscilla Stockner, DVM. She details case histories of immune-mediated orthopedic disease symptoms which occurred following modified-live vaccine administration in Great Danes. The vaccine reactions included inability to rise, pain, joint stiffness, high temps, and dramatic thyroid malfunctions.

Other case histories mention aggression as a not uncommon reaction. Now if Dr. Blank vaccinates Mrs. Smith's lap dog and then hears that Poopsie is "sick" and then that Poopsie is "nasty" he's likely to think the problem is in Mrs. Smith's mind. If the family dog attacks a child, the horror of the incident overrides the likelihood of exploring a connection to recent booster shots. I'm not suggesting that we write bad temperament off to "shots." On the other hand, when we encounter sudden and inexplicable behavioral changes, the first person we should turn to is a well informed veterinarian. 

Trainers and behavioral counselors please take note. Do your homework on this. Example, a description of severe reactions to canine distemper virus. JAVMA vol 196, No. 11, June 1, 1990 pg 1852 reports "Development of nervous system lesions was reflected by observation of signs of aggression, which eventually progressed to incoordination, prostration, convulsions, and death." The signs may be less pronounced, (sub-clinical from an owner's perspective) but still dangerous if one is dealing with a large breed.

There have been similar documented cases of postvaccinal rabies in dogs, cats, and people. Symptoms usually begin with lameness, limb paralysis, and may include nervousness, phobias, and even radical aggression.  Dr.Jean Dodds, DVM (prominent researcher, NY State Dept. Of Health, widely published) reports in a paper on Reactions to Vaccines And Drugs, Part I "Parallel bone marrow failure, immunosuppression, and immune-mediated hematologic disease have been recognized since the late 1970's in dogs exposed to canine parvo virus or recently vaccinated with modified live parvo virus and other vaccines." Dr. Dodds cites fever, stiffness, sore joints and abdominal tenderness, and eventual collapse among symptoms that may appear 1-3 days or 10-21 days after vaccination.

Well, the references could go on and on. Our ability to absorb such heavy doses of uncomfortable information does not. If you would like SHOWSIGHT to continue this subject, drop me a note. Time does not permit me to respond to you on an individual basis but I am interested in medically documented experiences of vaccine reactions or your quotable comments regarding the increase in immune problems over the last decade. Just as I did with data on reproductive problems associated with feline distemper/early canine parvo vaccine (The Dog Newspaper), we will report YOUR findings to the Fancy. Please indicate whether your name can be used in giving credit or quotes for future columns.

By the way, shall we talk about Clinton's REQUIRED vaccination of children and the possibility that newborns will be vaccinated before leaving the hospital? Possibly that injection will include a micro-chip?  Are our dogs canaries of the twentieth century in more ways than one? You tell me.....

        Copyright © 1993 Barbara J. Andrews.  All rights reserved.  Except for brief reference
         quotations with source provided, no portions thereof may be stored or reprinted in any
         form, electronic or otherwise, without prior express written consent of Barbara J. Andrews.

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SHOWSIGHT MAGAZINE Sept. 1993

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