Abstract
Development of the immune system of mammalian animal species parallels that of humans and involves the innate and adaptive (acquired) immune responses acting together with the thymus gland. Consequently, issues surrounding the adequacy and safety of vaccinations to protect pet animals from their relevant infectious diseases need to be addressed just as they are for humans. Pet animals, especially canines, also have unique needs because of the wide diversity of purebred and mixed breeds that vary greatly in size, type, temperament, and even maturation rates. Furthermore, pets in early life encounter a series of changes that can affect their development and induce stressors including parasite control, new homes and environment, novel foods, and the socialization that is essential at a time when vaccinations need to be given. While recognizing that this overall need is becoming more understood, current vaccination policy guidelines for companion animals are still only adhered to by about 40% of veterinarians worldwide. Clearly, vaccination of pets should no longer be considered as “one size fits all”.
Highlights
In support of the size hypothesis, this author studied healthy adult, small breed dogs that had not been vaccinated for at least three years. They were given a half-dose of bivalent canine distemper and parvovirus (DPV) vaccine, whereby all of them developed increased and sustained serum vaccine antibody titers [57]
For the last 100 years, vaccines have proven their importance in providing protective immunity for human and animal populations
Current, and new advances in vaccination development and technology, adverse events still occur in a small cohort of vaccinations
Summary
Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. Once the newborn’s innate and maternally derived immunity from colostrum milk wanes, the infant becomes susceptible to disease exposures until his own adaptive immunity and immune memory develops and becomes functional [1,2,5,6,7,8,12,13,14,15,17] In between these two events, termed the “window of susceptibility”, the infant is at risk for succumbing to infectious diseases [11,12]. The important cytokines include the chemokines, interferons, interleukins, and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,14] Important for this evolution of early life immune response is the protective effect of maternally derived immunity in neonatal dogs and cats and fetal mice and humans [5,6,7,8,12]. No sex differences have been identified with thymus function and development [19,21]
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