Karen Taylor asked:
How often should our dogs be re-vaccinated (boosters)?
Answer:
Hi Karen, thanks for your question about booster vaccinations. This is an area that’s become quite controversial in the last few years, and there’s a lot of confusion about the subject. In addition, there’s a lot of very poor-quality information out there, so I’ll try to make this quite clear and obvious!
To put it as simply as possible – see your vet every year for a health check, and discuss your vaccination strategy with them.
For more detail… now read on!
What are vaccinations?
Put simply, a vaccination is a way of teaching your dog’s immune system how to recognise and defeat the micro-organism that causes an infectious disease, without the risks (of illness, potential long term health problems or death) inherent in a “natural” infection.
This is achieved in one of three ways:
1) A weakened form of the disease-causing organism.
These are called “modified live” or “attenuated” vaccines, e.g. for Distemper and Parvovirus; the organism included is unable to multiply and/or cause clinical disease, but it is active enough to stimulate a strong immune response. Most modified live vaccines give a stronger and more long-lasting immune response than an inactivated vaccine; however, they aren’t suitable for every disease (because some organisms cannot be weakened enough to make them safe).
2) An inactivated (“killed” or “dead”) form of the organism.
These cannot ever cause disease, but allow the immune system to recognise the protein coat of the organism and therefore attack it next time. They may be used for particularly dangerous or unpredictable diseases such as Rabies or Leptospirosis, but don’t always give such long-lasting protection.
3) Subunit vaccines, introducing part of the organism to teach the immune system what it “looks like”.
For these, part of the protein coat of the target organism is replicated in a lab, and included in the vaccine; this means the immune response is really tightly targeted at one particular, vital, part of the organism. These are used, for example, in the Leishmania vaccine.
There are 2 groups of vaccines – core and non-core. Core vaccines are those that should be given to every dog – they protect your dog and everyone else’s against dangerous, highly contagious and potentially fatal diseases. Non-core vaccines are those that are given to protect dogs that are particularly at risk of a specific condition because of their location, lifestyle, etc.
The core vaccines that every dog should have are against:
- Distemper.
- Parvovirus.
- Canine Infectious Hepatitis.
The vaccine against Leptospirosis is technically non-core; however, it is generally agreed that every dog in the UK is at risk of Lepto (which is spread by rat urine), and so it is treated as a core vaccine by most vets.
The non-core (optional) vaccines available are:
- Rabies (only necessary for pets travelling abroad).
- Parainfluenza (one of the causes of kennel cough).
- Kennel Cough (the bacterial sort, Bordetella bronchiseptica).
- Lyme Disease (only necessary for dogs at high risk, e.g. gundogs, in high risk areas, e.g. the South West peninsula).
- Leishmania (only necessary for dogs travelling to southern Europe).
- Canine Coronavirus (only usually needed in breeding kennels).
If vaccines are so good, why do they need boosting?
Because nothing lasts forever! Eventually, the immune system starts to “forget” how to handle a particular disease organism. Booster vaccines effectively remind the system and refresh the immunity.
However, immunity to different diseases (and different types of vaccine, for that matter) lasts a variable amount of time, and that’s the problem. Some dogs will retain immunity for longer than others – unfortunately, there’s no easy way to tell which dogs are immune to what for how long.
Is there any way to tell whether my dog actually needs a booster?
Not really! The trouble is that although some vaccines operate by producing protective antibodies (e.g. Rabies), others rely on inducing a Cell Mediated Immune Response (immunity that doesn’t rely on antibodies in the blood, but circulating immune cells, e.g. T-lymphocytes and Natural Killer (NK) cells) – such as the Leishmania vaccine, which may not produce any antibodies at all. And most of them probably rely to some extent on both systems.
It’s easy to test the dog’s blood for antibodies (and there are some commercial companies that will do this and say “yes, high levels of antibody, so the dog is protected” or “no, not enough antibody, the dog needs to be vaccinated again”. However, this is not generally considered reliable, because:
- The serological titre (level of antibodies in the blood) can only tell you how much antibody there is in the bloodstream at the specific time the test is done – it cannot tell you whether the levels will remain high for the following 12 months.
- The link between antibody levels and protection isn’t consistent – some dogs utilise other parts of the immune system (cell mediated immunity) – for example, dogs can be protected against Leptospirosis in the presence or absence of significant circulating antibody levels.
So how long does immunity actually last?
How long the vaccine lasts depends on the exact formulation of the vaccine; at the time of writing, the three Core vaccines generally need boosting 1 year after the initial course, then every 3 years. Most Rabies vaccines needs boosting only every 3 years; and the others usually require annual boosters.
To get a license for a vaccine, the manufacturer has to demonstrate that the product has a protective effect, however that is defined. For Core vaccines, they have to demonstrate onset and duration of immunity such as to fulfil the license claim to:
- “Prevent mortality and clinical signs caused by canine distemper virus infection”.
- “Reduce clinical signs of infectious hepatitis and viral excretion due to canine adenovirus type 1 infection”.
- “Prevent mortality, clinical signs and viral excretion following canine parvovirus infection”.
If this cannot be demonstrated to the regulator (in the UK, the Veterinary Medicines Directorate – VMD), they won’t get a license for the product. This means that manufacturer’s recommendations for duration of immunity are those that will protect the vast majority of dogs for the quoted time (3 years or 12 months, depending on the vaccine).
To make life a little more complex, any vet who uses a different vaccination interval, unless they can document a good clinical justification, is technically acting illegally by using the vaccine off-license (i.e. not as licensed by the manufacturer). This sort of behaviour tends to lead to unpleasant interviews with the VMD and has led to vets being struck off (although not, to my knowledge, for vaccine infringements as yet).
Can over-vaccination harm my dog?
There’s no reliable evidence that it can. In cats, every subcutaneous injection (of anything, even saline!) slightly increases the risk of an Injection Site Sarcoma, but despite a lot of scientists, vets and owners trying to find a link, there’s no evidence that it causes any problems in dogs.
That said, absence of evidence is not necessarily evidence of absence, so a responsible approach would be to vaccinate as infrequently as the current evidence suggests is sufficient to provide protection – in other words:
1) Get a health check for your dog at the vets every year.
2) Follow the manufacturer’s recommendations (unless your vet has a particular clinical reason not to):
- Distemper, Parvo and Infectious Hepatitis – boosters every 3 years.
- Lepto – annual booster.
- Rabies – boost every 3 years.
- Other Non-core vaccines – usually every year.
I hope that helps; this is a really controversial area in some quarters, but the evidence base for the current vaccination protocols is pretty secure, and it is what I’d advise you to follow.
David Harris BVSc MRCVS
Discussion
Our 10 year old male labrador missed his due four in one vaccination for Parvo, Distemper, Adenovirus Leptospirosis on 22 April 2024. We got him vaccinated Vanguard L4 on 10 May 2024. After 18 days of his due date for vaccination. His vet has advised him to be vaccinated again after a month on 10 June 2024 for Parvo, Distemper, Adenovirus and Leptospirosis. Our dog is suffering from Pancreatitis for over a year now and his Amylase level was 1865 /ml last month. We are worried of over vaccinating him given his health condition. Please advise.
Vanguard 7 (which I’m guessing this was) only requires a single dose of the distemper, adenovirus, parvo component to generate solid immunity in adults, according to the manufacturers datasheet.
The Lepto component strictly should be boosted, as you are outside of the manufacturer’s guidelines if you do not re-start. It is likely that there is some cover (some evidence suggests a 3 month delay is the maximum at which a restart is not needed) but be aware that your insurance company and boarding kennels etc may not accept that he is fully vaccinated. Probably worth having a chat with your regular vet who is aware of his history!
My 15 year old dog has never been vaccinated, should I start now.
It’s a really interesting question. If she’s gone this long, the probability is she has built up some immunity to Parvo, and maybe Lepto too. However, as she ages, it’s likely her immune response will become less and less effective – just like in humans, flu vaccines are prioritised for the elderly, the same applies in dogs. the good news is that at her age, a single injection of a modern modified live vaccine is likely to give her 3+ years of “top up” cover. So personally, yes, I would: however, it’s not a “definitely must be done” sort of thing.
Alternatively, you could consider titre testing to see what she is already immune to?
I seriously question your comment: there is no reliable evidence that vaccines harm dogs!! Really, what planet are you on?
The evidence is overwhelming that vaccines harm dogs and you are quite incorrect that a dog needs a booster every 3 years. Not true. Just like humans, once immune, alway immune..there is no in between. A bit like saying slightly pregnant! You either are pregnant or not.
Again, you also state, there is no reliable way of telling if a dog is immune? You clearly know that there is.
From my understanding, vets take an oath to ‘do no harm’, so then why do you without any care for the animal vaccinate upon vaccinate, spay and neuter – particularly at a very young age when puppies desperately need their hormones for mental and physical growth, and to build a strong immune system.
Neutering (or mutilation) causes several diseases and conditions – you don’t tell your clients about those do you – just about what neutering prevents (and there is no SCIENTIFIC evidence to support your claims) Neutering causes far more damage to the dog than you hope to prevent.
Enough said. Is there no wonder that intelligent people stay clear of the vets when they can.
Dear Mrs H,
Thanks for your comment! As you’ll see from the date, this was posted over two years ago. In that time, the scientific evidence has moved on. In particular, it is now well established that titre testing is indeed a reliable measure of immunity for some disease conditions – Distemper, Parvo and Infectious Hepatitis in dogs, and Panleukopenia in cats, and a useful (if expensive) way of determining whether a booster is needed or not. However, the technique currently seems to be fundamentally unreliable for vaccines such as Leptospirosis, Feline Herpesvirus and Feline Calicivirus.
The issue with waning of immunity is very real, unfortunately – while a substantial percentage of dogs and cats (possibly over 50% for some vaccines) do retain immunity for many years (durations of immunity of 7-9 years have been reliably recorded), other individuals do not maintain their immunity for that long. Immunity is much more complicated than “immune” or “not”, and as a result, maintaining herd immunity in the population is best maintained by regular boosters if the immune status of the patient is unknown or unclear.
That said, while there is still no good evidence that overvaccination causes disease, any medication has the potential for side effects (however rare), and so I still stand by my statement that we should be vaccinating as little as possible.
If you’d like to learn more, I recommend the WSAVA’s summary of the current evidence which you can find here: https://www.wsava.org/sites/default/files/WSAVA%20Vaccination%20Guidelines%202015%20Full%20Version.pdf
In any case, I’d like to take the opportunity to wish you a very merry Christmas, and a happy New Year.
David
I would be amazed if my comments pass moderating. Most sites only print what they consider to be good reviews. Not challenging comments.
Thanks for your great information. I recently got a dog from the Humane society and part of their requirements for the adoption was getting the booster shots. It seemed kind of odd to me since he came from a family and is three years old. However, I didn’t know that vaccines would be less effective after a while. I should probably get boosters myself:).
Thanks for your great information. I recently got a dog from the Humane society and part of their requirements for the adoption was getting the booster shots. It seemed kind of odd to me since he came from a family and is three years old. However, I didn’t know that vaccines would be less effective after a while. I should probably get boosters myself:).