This is one of the most divisive subjects to stir debate within the dog world in recent years. Most UK vets advise routinely vaccinating dogs against leptospirosis (commonly called lepto) as part of their yearly booster injection. This also protects against distemper, hepatitis, parvovirus and parainfluenza.
Vaccines are now available to protect dogs against all four major strains of lepto present in the UK or common in Europe; Canicola, Icterohaemorrhagiae, Australis and Gryippotyphosa. These ‘L4’ vaccines supersede the two-strain (L2) version which have been used in the UK for over 50 years.
Why do some dog owners leave it out?
Doubts over the lepto vaccine’s safety arose after inaccurate reports of post-L4 vaccination illness were widely publicised in the press. As a result, some owners either don’t vaccinate their dogs against lepto at all, or opt to give the L2 version.
The VMD (Veterinary Medicines Directorate) is the government agency responsible for monitoring the safety of all animal vaccines and medications used in the UK. Their data shows that the risk of dogs reacting adversely to either the L2 or L4 vaccine is actually rare. For every 10 000 doses of lepto vaccine given, the VMD receives reports of fewer than two dogs reacting to the L2 vaccine and fewer than seven reacting to the L4 vaccine.
It’s worth pointing out that any vaccine can cause a range of reactions, the majority of which are non-serious. The VMD’s data doesn’t distinguish between serious and non-serious reactions.
Is vaccination against leptospirosis even necessary?
Leptospirosis is a relatively rare disease and, if diagnosed early, is treatable. But diagnosing lepto is challenging. The symptoms of leptospirosis can be vague and resemble those seen with many other diseases. External laboratories take time to process and run tests which leads to an unavoidable delay in treatment. During this time, lepto can rapidly progress causing serious illness and, sadly, even death. Vaccination prevents dogs from becoming seriously ill in the first place.
Leptospirosis affects most mammalian species (humans included!) Infected animals (particularly rats) contaminate fresh water sources (e.g. canals, ponds, rivers) with their urine. Animals contract leptospirosis by swimming in, and drinking, contaminated water or through open skin wounds. Both city-dwelling and country rats carry lepto therefore dogs can contract it wherever they live. It’s impossible to ‘risk assess’ a dog’s lifestyle and guarantee they’ll never come into contact with lepto.
Can I get leptospirosis from my dog?
Weil’s disease is the human form of leptospirosis. It’s a serious condition causing a range of symptoms from flu-like illness progressing to kidney and liver failure.
While it’s possible to contract lepto directly from your dog, it’s a rare way to become infected. Leptospira bacteria, shed in your dog’s urine, could infect you through skin wounds and direct contact with your mucous membranes (mouth and nose).
Your dog’s contaminated bedding and kennels could also become potential sources of infection. Dogs who recover from lepto may continue to carry, and intermittently shed, infectious bacteria in their urine. Vaccination helps prevent your dog becoming a carrier of lepto.
What are the alternatives to vaccination?
Your vet can run blood tests to measure your dog’s immunity to many diseases. If your dog’s immunity is adequate, you might choose not to vaccinate them. However, the tests for Lepto are too unreliable to be recommended at this time (unlike Parvo, Distemper or Hepatitis).
The WSAVA say “For Leptospira the titres will decline rapidly after vaccination and in any case are not well correlated with protection”. And immunity to lepto is short-lived; studies show immunity reduces around a year after vaccination (hence why it’s an annual vaccine). Even if your dog’s blood test shows adequate immunity, this protection will likely fall over the following months.
Leptospirosis is a serious illness, preventable by vaccination. If you’re still unsure about vaccinating your dog, speak to your vet to discuss your options and your dog’s level of risk.
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Discussion
On the topic of dog vets recommended purchase of isoxazolines to prevent borrelia from black legged tick bites . These insecticides carry some risks for seizures and organ toxicity. It appears my untreated husky has already been bitten. And without annual prevention would be risking lyme disease , joint inflamation and kidney failure This is the choice we face .
Ticks are unavoidable, holistics are less effective . In the long run the deciding factor would be to avoid a tick infestation in your home ! And cost is a factor.
Dr Davies what are the real risks ?
Grandma always said go to the source, talk to the horse… or dog vet in our case.
Thankyou
The risk of severe side effects from the licensed veterinary isoxazolines is pretty low: even fluralaner, which has the highest concentration of active, is recognised as a trigger for seizures in less than one in 10,000 treated dogs (and there’s some data suggesting that these are probably dogs who are predisposed to seizure disorders for whatever reason). So overall, they are very safe – of course, if you administer enough doses of any drug, you will see some side effects, and as these drugs are rapidly becoming the most popular ectoparasiticides on the market, we’re seeing more doses administered.
With regard to the risk of borreliosis following tick bites: the data is much less solid, and much more variable from place to place around the world. As a result, I’d be very inclined to ask your vet what the risk for Borrelia is in your vicinity – as well as the risks from the wide range of other infections that hitch a ride on a tick. We’re lucky here in the west of the UK that Lyme’s is the only major dog pathogen spread by ticks; in most parts of the world there are far more nasty things out there.
On balance, I think that for most dogs, the benefits are greater than the risks of using this class of medications (they’re also a lot safer and/or effective than almost all of the alternatives) – but again, it will depend on your dog’s individual risk factors!
Well appreciated . Over here in southern Canada, Deer ticks are quickly becoming endemic multi-disease carriers for our pet dogs. Lym disease preventatives are rated at 95% effective yet we’ve been told that 95% of positve infected dogs remain asymtomatic and live healthy lives based on a strong immune system.
Of the 5% of dogs that show illness only 5% of that number show severe illness or kidney failure. Which equals 25 out of 10,000.
Leading to an abundance of unnecessary preventatives and alternate risk.
Salutations
That’s why these meds are prescription-only.
But I’d still argue that less than 1:10,000 is a lower risk than 25 in 10,000!
my dog had it;s shots at 3 years and now he is 5 do i need to get him vac all of them?
It depends what exact vaccines he’s having, and what your local rules are. In general, though, the modern “modified live” vaccines against distemper, hepatitis and parvovirus give solid protection for 3 years, so don’t need to be done every year. However, other diseases such as Lepto or kennel cough do need boosting annually. Rabies is a difficult one, because while protection does usually last about 3 years, the level of protection may gradually decline in that time, so many countries require annual vaccination for public safety.
In terms of how long the vaccine can last… a series of studies by Shultz have demonstrated than in many (but not all – about 50-60%) of dogs, immunity lasts longer than 3 years (up to 9 years for parvo, although that still means 40-50% of dogs are no longer protected). The 3 year cut off is a reasonable compromise, because about 98% of dogs will still be protected after 3 years, but then it starts to fall.
Hope that helps!
If a dog has had an immune mediated disease, is it safe to vaccinate said dog without fear of relapse.
The simple answer is, “that depends”. However, as a very very general rule, any vaccine or infection could trigger a relapse. The question you and your vet will need to decide is whether the risk of infection is greater than the risk of relapse. It’s uncommon for any UK licensed vaccine to trigger autoimmune disease flare ups, but it definitely can happen, unfortunately. This is another reason for getting as many dogs without autoimmune problems vaccinated, to provide a level of protection by reducing the amount of circulating pathogens in the population.