TheDogPlace.org > Vaccines >> National Rabies Vaccination

It began in 1981 as a personal crusade by author/journalist Barbara (BJ) Andrews.  Intrigued by an implausible explanation for the first parvo outbreak, Andrews documented vaccine failures, immune system damage and other side effects in national magazine columns.  Vaccine risks were finally acknowledged in the late nineties as medical researchers began to document problems with childhood vaccines.  Even before 2005 when Senator Kennedy helped to expose the  vaccine/mercury/autism connection, Kris Christine was progressing with the Rabies Challenge. Christine, Andrews, Medical and Veterinary doctors continue to expose the dark side of the pharmaceutical industry.  Copy & Send this link to all who have children or own a dog!
 

Rabies Challenge Fund Succeeds in setting new vaccine standard to protect dogs from adverse reactions and immune system damage. After the booster shot, does your Vet still recommend annual rabies shots? What are possible side effects?

Kris L. Christine TheDogPlace.org March 2009 - With the recent passage of Act 159 paving the way for Arkansas to conform to the national 3 year rabies immunization standard, Alabama has become the only state in the country to adhere to a now outdated annual rabies vaccination requirement for dogs and cats. 

Title 3 Chapter 7A-2 of the Alabama Code mandating annual rabies vaccinations is counter to the recommendations of the American Veterinary Medical Association [1] and the Center for Disease Control’s National Association of State Public Health Veterinarian’s Compendium of Animal Rabies Prevention and Control 2008 which states that, “Vaccines used in state and local rabies control programs should have at least a 3-year duration of immunity. This constitutes the most effective method of increasing the proportion of immunized dogs and cats in any population (50).”  They specifically warn that, “[n]o laboratory or epidemiologic data exist to support the annual or biennial administration of 3- or 4-year vaccines following the initial series.” 

It is recognized that most, if not all, currently licensed annual rabies vaccines given annually are actually the 3-year vaccine relabeled for annual use -- Colorado State University's Small Animal Vaccination Protocol for its veterinary teaching hospital states: “Even with rabies vaccines, the label may be misleading in that a three year duration of immunity product may also be labeled and sold as a one year duration of immunity product.”  

According to Dr. Ronald Schultz of the University of Wisconsin School of Veterinary Medicine, whose canine vaccine studies form a large part of the scientific base for the 2003 and 2006 American Animal Hospital Association’s (AAHA) Canine Vaccine Guidelines, as well as the World Small Animal Veterinary Association’s 2007 Vaccine Guidelines, “There is no benefit from annual rabies vaccination and most one year rabies products are similar or identical to the 3-year products with regard to duration of immunity and effectiveness.” [2]

Alabama’s code requiring annual rabies boosters may have been intended to achieve enhanced immunity to the rabies virus by giving the vaccine more often than the federal 3-year licensing standard, but, more frequent vaccination than is required to fully immunize an animal will not achieve further disease protection.  Redundant annual rabies shots needlessly expose dogs and cats to the risk of adverse effects while obligating residents to pay unnecessary veterinary medical fees.  The American Veterinary Medical Association's 2001 Principles of Vaccination state that “Unnecessary stimulation of the immune system does not result in enhanced disease resistance, and may increase the risk of adverse post-vaccination events.”  The current rabies immunization code may violate Title 8 Section 8-19-5 of Alabama’s Consumer Protection Law by requiring pet owners to pay for a yearly veterinary medical procedure from which their animals derive no benefit and may be harmed.

Immunologically, the rabies vaccine is the most potent of the veterinary vaccines and associated with significant adverse reactions such as polyneuropathy “resulting in muscular atrophy, inhibition or interruption of neuronal control of tissue and organ function, incoordination, and weakness,” [3] auto-immune hemolytic anemia,[4] autoimmune diseases affecting the thyroid, joints, blood, eyes, skin, kidney, liver, bowel and central nervous system; anaphylactic shock; aggression; seizures; epilepsy; and fibrosarcomas at injection sites are all linked to the rabies vaccine.[5] [6].  It is medically unsound for this vaccine to be given more often than is necessary to maintain immunity.

A “killed” vaccine, the rabies vaccine contains adjuvants to enhance the immunological response.  In 1999, the World Health Organization “classified veterinary vaccine adjuvants as Class III/IV carcinogens with Class IV being the highest risk, " [7] and the results of a study published in the August 2003 Journal of Veterinary Medicine documenting fibrosarcomas at the presumed injection sites of rabies vaccines stated, “In both dogs and cats, the development of necrotizing panniculitis at sites of rabies vaccine administration was first observed by Hendrick & Dunagan (1992).”  [8] According to the 2003 AAHA Guidelines, "...killed vaccines are much more likely to cause hypersensitivity reactions (e.g., immune-mediated disease)." [9]

The labels on rabies vaccines state that they are for “the vaccination of healthy cats, dogs…,” and there are medical conditions for which vaccination can jeopardize the life or well-being of an animal.  A medical exemption clause inserted into Title 3 Chapter 7A-2 would allow veterinarians to write waivers for animals for whom medical conditions preclude vaccination.  The State of Maine inserted such an exemption into the 3 year rabies protocol, 7 M.R.S.A., Sec. 3922(3), it adopted in 2004 as follows: 

A.   A letter of exemption from vaccination may be submitted for licensure, if a medical reason exists that precludes the vaccination of the dog.   Qualifying letters must be in the form of a written statement, signed by a licensed veterinarian, that includes a description of the dog, and the medical reason that precludes vaccination.  If the medical reason is temporary, the letter shall indicate a time of expiration of the exemption.  

      B.   A dog exempted under the provisions of paragraph 5 A, above, shall be considered unvaccinated, for the purposes of 10-144 C.M.R. Ch.251, Section 7(B)(1), (Rules Governing Rabies Management) in the case of said dog’s exposure to a confirmed or suspect rabid animal.

Received from Kris L. Christine, Founder, Co-Trustee,
THE RABIES CHALLENGE FUND

www.RabiesChallengeFund.org

Editor’s Note:  Every dog owner in America owes Kris a huge debt.  She undertook the impossible nearly a decade ago and she won.  Little by little she labored alone, first in her state and then appearing before other state boards, then with the help of Jean Dodds, DVM of international renown, and finally, joined by other progressive, ethical, animal loving university veterinarians.  I am honored and humbled to have joined her crusade, putting the resources of TheDogPlace behind Kris to help disseminate her progress.  If you love your dogs and value their health, visit the Rabies Challenge website, say thank you, and see how you can help! 

http://www.thedogplace.org/Vaccines/09033-Nat.Rabies_Christine.htm