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Patty
Patty, and anyone else:
Vaccine reactions are VERY common in veterinary medicine. And as a former practitioner, I know how
stupid they make the veterinarian look when an animal has a reaction right in front of you. Vaccines are
different than drugs. Drugs are watched over by the FDA (BVD in Canada). A different government branch,
the USDA looks over the vaccines. In my opinion and experience, drugs go through much more rigorous
evaluation than do vaccines. This is borne out by the Adverse Drug Reaction reports that show that most of
the complaints are regarding vaccines. Because of the nature of vaccines, there is always some degree of
risk of a reaction (we are using foreign antigens to stimulate an immune response after all). I have
experienced vaccine reactions from every brand name that I have used in practice.But I do think that the
quality of vaccines can be improved. Also, it's not too different in human medicine. How many of you have
children that go for their DPT immunizations - and aren't you told that the child may have a fever, etc
afterwards? But if you want the companies that make vaccines to make them safer, you've got to complain
to the right people. Unfortunately, most veterinarians and clients don't report the actual cases of adverse
reactions. But if you want to, here's who to call:
USDA Veterinary Biologics and Diagnostics: 1-800-752-6255 (this is a 24 hour toll free hotline to report
adverse vaccine reactions)
Speak up and make a difference!
Cheers,
Trisha
Trisha Dowling, DVM, MS, Diplomate ACVIM & ACVCP
Associate Professor, Veterinary Clinical Pharmacology
Western College of Veterinary Medicine
Saskatoon, SK S7N 5B4
306-966-7359/FAX 306-966-7376
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