Howdy Friends! “Over vaccination is the #1 predictor of life-long plagues in animals” (not to mention our kids!). The most chronic diseases of our pets are allergies, persistent itchy skin and/or ears. We’ve got data supporting that for well over a several decades. As well as a host of chronic auto immune issues.
In horses, the most over vaccinated animals, ailments range from skin diseases to founder, colic, organ failure, and even chronic behavioral issues.
You may well be one of the smart folks who’ve stopped further vaccinating your already vaccinated animals. If you’ve ever been a victim of peer pressure about your “No More Vaccines!” decision, and the myth of vaccines creating a herd immunity has been used to try to shame you, Know this…Tetyana Obukhanych, PhD. did post-doctoral research at Harvard and Stanford. Her work in this area makes it clear: unvaccinated kids pose zero risk to ANYONE. And you can clearly apply her knowledge of what does and doesn’t happen with vaccines in kids – To your pets and horses.
While herd immunity is a real thing, it’s never been associated with vaccines.
Herds that have gone through naturally acquired diseases, especially those caused by viruses, are naturally resistant to those diseases in the future. IT DOES NOT follow that a “herd” of vaccinated animals (or kids) also carry a protective immunity that protects them from infectious diseases.
Dr. Obukhanych shows several examples of vaccinated humans being actually MORE at risk than those non-vaccinated individuals, to whit measles and whooping cough (pertussis).
So, whether you’ve opted to not vaccinate or stop over-vaccinating your family, don’t buy the political argument that we need mandatory vaccines to keep us all safe.
Or worse, that you are being socially irresponsible for not re-vaccinating, or over-vaccinating those in your care. Animal or human.
Science is behind you on this. I thought you’d like to know. ~ Gitty Up, Dutch.
PS ~ “Almost without exception there is no immunologic requirement for annual revaccination. Immunity to viruses persists for years or for the life of the animal… Furthermore, revaccination with most viral vaccines fails to stimulate an anamnestic (secondary) response…” Ronald Schultz (University of Wisconsin) and Tom Phillips (Scrips Research Institute).
Dutch, I absolutely agree with you in regard to these vacs.
Thanks for commenting. It’s a long hard battle. But we’ll persist, for the horses!
Do you recommend no vaccines for the horses? In Florida I worry most about West Nile virus.
I don’t take any vaccines myself.
And for my dog I wanted to get the test to check for titers.
I subscribe to very limited vaxs. And for any virus vax, one lasts a lifetime. That’s my belief. Each must do what suits them best.