Clevengers Corner Veterinary Care

Q: Should I have my dog vaccinated against Lyme disease? A: The best way to prevent tick-borne diseases is to properly apply a veterinary-quality tick control product all year. However, despite making this recommendation until I am blue in the face, I routinely see dogs contract Lyme disease. In fact, I have seen several dogs die from terrible complications from this illness. As a result of my first hand experiences, I have become an advocate of vaccinating many dogs against the bacteria that causes Lyme disease. The answer to whether or not a particular dog should be vaccinated depends on many factors. Vaccination decisions should always be made in consultation with your dog’s veterinarian after a thorough physical examination and risk assessment. Your veterinarian will evaluate your dog’s health, breed, lifestyle, immune status, and tick control program in helping you decide. He may also want to run a screening test for the bacteria that causes Lyme disease. Personally, I recommend vaccination for most puppies and young adults. Except in puppies, I like to test for prior exposure at the time of the initial vaccination. For older dogs, I am less likely to recommend the vaccine. An older dog that is not infected either has a low risk lifestyle, an adequate tick control regimen, or natural immunity against the disease. A recent five year study demonstrated there may be some benefit to vaccinating dogs after they have been treated for Lyme disease. There is much misinformation out there regarding the Lyme vaccine. Much of the confusion comes from the fact that there are three distinct types of vaccination available. Each has a different set of risks and benefits. The three types of Lyme vaccine are: (1) Whole cell bactrin - This vaccine is the “traditional” Lyme vaccine and is still widely used. It is essentially the whole bacteria ground up and put into a jar. It is made up of many, many proteins. The whole cell bactrin has the highest risk of inappropriate immune reaction. I do not use this vaccine because of its reactivity. However, it is the most commonly administered type of Lyme vaccine. (2) Recombinant DNA, non-adjuvanted - This vaccine is my preferred product. There is only a single Lyme protein used in the vaccine. It is the Outer Surface Peptide A, or OspA. OspA is the protein the Lyme bacteria uses to inject itself from the tick into the dog. Once the bacteria enters the dog's body, the protein is no longer exhibited on the surface of the organism. In essence, it's like a sock turning inside out. The immune system cannot see the protein once an infection occurs. This means that the vaccine only works in the tick. If there is vaccine failure or previous infection, there is no additional immune reaction in the dog. Since it is a single protein, the vaccine does not pose much risk of allergic reaction or other excessive immune stimulation. I have used the vaccine for about seven years and cannot recall a single adverse event. The only negative I have experienced is the cost. It is the most expensive vaccine that our practice uses.(3) Recombinant DNA, adjuvanted – Frankly, I do not understand why this vaccine is marketed. They go through the expensive technical process of making a recombinant vaccine. Then they add an artificial adjuvant to increase its reactivity. The long term effects of chemical adjuvants are controversial and I try to avoid them as much as possible in my vaccine selection. I prefer the non-adjuvanted vaccine which uses a canarypox virus in place of a chemical adjuvant. (Canarypox has no effect on dogs - it does not even affect birds other than canaries.)

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