Press release issued by the Animal Health Trust
Independent study endorses vaccine safety
An independent and scientifically peer reviewed study presented in the UK
for the first time today at the
British Small Animal
Veterinary Association (BSAVA) Congress in Birmingham has produced the
clearest evidence yet that routine vaccination of dogs in the UK does not
increase frequency of illness.
The study – nicknamed POOCH (Practice Overview of Canine Health)1 – was
carried out by the world renowned
Animal Health Trust at
Newmarket.
“This is completely contrary to the claims which have hit the headlines,”
says Dr James Wood, head of epidemiology at the Animal Health Trust. “People
should understand that our research results clearly demonstrate the absence
of any deleterious association between routine vaccination and signs of ill
health.”
The AHT’s research took the form of an epidemiological investigation to
evaluate the evidence for any temporal association between vaccination and
ill-health in dogs. In total, more than 9,000 postal questionnaires were
sent to the owners of a randomly selected population of dogs and just over
4,000 of these were returned and analysed. No temporal association was found
between vaccination and ill-health in dogs after adjusting for potential
confounders, such as age.
The study population consisted of dogs that had used the services of a
veterinary practice within the previous 12 months. The British veterinary
practices contacted were randomly selected from a national list. Dogs were
then randomly selected from the computer databases of the 28 practices that
agreed to participate. On receipt of the owners’ completed questionnaires,
details of the dogs’ vaccination history were confirmed with the veterinary
practice.
The survey found that older dogs in general exhibit more signs of
illness, including chronic lameness, stiffness and bad breath, and that
frequency of these signs increases continuously with age. However, the
results demonstrated that recent vaccination (within a period of 3 months)
did not increase the signs of ill-health by more than 0.5% and could well
actually decrease them by almost 5%.
2 April 2004
Notes for Editors
1. Of the 3,966 dogs assessed by the survey, 50.5% were male. Ages ranged
from two weeks to 23 years (median 6 years 4 months). The demographic data
for 667 non-responder dogs was similar: 57% were male, with an age range of
three weeks to 20 years (median 6 years 3 months). There were 124 breed
groups represented including 1076 crossbred, 348 Labrador Retrievers, 180
Jack Russell Terriers and 169 Border Collies.
Time since last vaccination ranged from one day to 17 years (median 6
months). 23% of dogs were recently vaccinated (<3mo), 1% (42) were
unvaccinated and 1% (42) had their vaccination status recorded as unknown.
The dogs’ vaccinations were predominantly combined boosters, including
components to protect against distemper virus, para-influenza virus, canine
parvovirus, Leptospira interrogans (serovars canicola and
icterohaemorrhagica) and infectious hepatitis. Vaccinations against
Bordetella bronchiseptica or against rabies had also been administered to
some dogs.
The POOCH survey is to be published in a forthcoming edition of the
peer-reviewed scientific journal “Vaccine”.
“Vaccination and ill health in dogs: A lack of temporal association and
evidence of equivalence”, D.S. Edwards, W.E. Henley, E.R. Ely, J.L.N. Wood,
Animal Health Trust, Lanwades Park, Kentford, Newmarket, Suffolk, UK, CB8
7UU
2. The Animal Health Trust is a registered charity committed to improving
the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of injuries and diseases which
affect companion animals. Based in Newmarket, Suffolk, the Trust was
established in 1942 and currently employs more than 200 scientists,
veterinary surgeons and support workers.
The National Office of Animal Health was formed on 1st January 1986 to
represent the UK companies which research, develop, manufacture and market
licensed animal health products. The association now has 33 corporate
members and 14 associate members. In 2002, NOAH’s members accounted for well
over 90 per cent of the £389 million UK animal health market.
3. The study was funded by members of the National Office of Animal
Health (NOAH), the trade association for the manufacturers of licensed
animal medicines, to properly investigate the safety of routine vaccination
in the UK canine population.
NOAH submitted a proposal for a scientifically valid study, but AHT
stressed that they were prepared to undertake the project only on the clear
contractual understanding that the work would be completely independent and
that NOAH could not influence either the outcome or the eventual publication
of the results.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:
ANIMAL HEALTH TRUST: Jan Wade, R&W Publications, 07976 827999 email:
jan.wade@aht.org.uk James Wood, head of epidemiology, telephone 0870 050
2460 http://www.aht.org.uk
BSAVA: 01452 726700,
http://www.bsava.com
NOAH: Lindy Margach, Kendalls, telephone 01394 610022 Alison Glennon,
NOAH Communications Manager, telephone 020 8367 3131 David Sutton, chairman
of the NOAH Companion Animal Vaccine Group, 01908 665050
|
