VetNet®
VetNet® AIHA discussion forum
VetNet® Forum
Lifelong Learning Network
www.vetnetlln.ac.uk
Veterinary Recruitment
Premier Partner Program
Canine Autoimmune Hemolytic Anemia (AIHA & IMHA) - Titers and Immunity
| Hi Everyone, Henri is doing great (PCV 41%). Our plan is to stop his azathioprine at the first part of January. I, like others, have lots of anxiety about stopping the meds all together but feel we should give it a try. I have a couple questions regarding vaccinations and immunity. Henri received all his puppy vaccines before his onset of vaccine-induced IMHA. He is coming due for 1-year boosters. We have been told he cannot ever have vaccines again but that we should run titers annual to check his immunity. My question is... Has anyone done titers over time and had issues with their dog losing immunity? Any input would be appreciated! PS A strange but true note....Henri about a month after going off of prednisone decided to finish his teething which got interrupted by his IMHA crisis. So our 1-year old puppy is teething?!! Thank you, Ella Henri, West Highland White Terrier, 1-yo, diagnosed with vaccine-induced IMHA on 02/26/09 (5-months of age), meds: 7mg/EOD azathrioprine. |
| Ella Seattle |
| Ella, Great news about Henri! I think because he is so young he has a great opportunity to bounce right back to good health! There is a growing minority of dog owners that don't give any vaccination boosters past the first years' series. The only exception is the rabies vaccination which is required by law. Most universities and some municipalities are now recommending boosters in three year intervals. Dr. Dodds is in agreement that dogs should be responsibly vaccinated as puppies and suggests that dogs that have had any immune diseases should not have continued boosters throughout their life other than that required rabies (which she does not like either). When I first got Chance as a puppy, the breeder advised me not to give him any more vaccinations past his puppy series, with the exception of the legally required rabies. I did want to titer him, and this would have been in 1998, but the vet I had started with locally did not either want to do it, or didn't understand how to do it. I found another vet clinic, that I have stayed with to this day, who understood about titers and had a handful of owners who had done them. So we continued to have him titered each year with Cornell. The concept of measuring titers is not as straightforward as one would think. Doing this in dogs originally began when breeders wanted a way to determine if the first series of vaccinations in their little puppies had "taken." Because in some cases, they do not "take well" in very young puppies. It is used sometimes in humans. I had my immunity titered after I had a serious case of chicken pox in my late 30's. They were able to determine that I had never been exposed to whooping cough or German measles (either by having those diseases or by vaccination). It has recently become more popular, and the misconception is that it should be done every year, to make sure that the dog still has the immunity to those diseases. Once you have been exposed to a virus, your body "remembers" this for a lifetime. The question is, is there "enough" of the memory to mount an attack if you were exposed to the disease again? Measuring titers tells us that we have been exposed to the disease and often indicates a range of titers from very low to very high, but cannot tell us for sure whether we would be able to mount that successful attack on the disease. But human medicine, and now veterinary medicine, have guidelines for what they believe is the proper range that the titer should fall into to provide future immunity. When I was seen by my doctor after the chicken pox, she advised me that my titer for this was so high that it definitely indicated a recent exposure. She hoped that it would remain this high as I aged so I would not face shingles. So when you have Henri's titers done, ask for the full report, and you will see that they explain the titer that they have found for each disease and then they will compare it to a range they believe indicates good immunity. The question remains, could Henri or Chance mount a successful attack on distemper or any of the other diseases they were vaccinated against when they were young? Many factors go into that besides the titer. Most important is probably the health status of the dog. The year after Chance had his non-regenerative anemia, his rabies booster was due. I was certainly very worried about giving him this. I started researching months ahead of time so that I could make an educated decision. I also had his titer done for rabies. This is a very expensive test and they don't actually have a range for canines, but use the range they have developed for humans! The results came back with a perfectly high and acceptable titer for rabies! I was surprised, but pleased. In the end I did booster his rabies, not because I was worried about his ability to fight off rabies if he was exposed to it, but rather because of the laws here in New York State and locally. There can be severe consequences for owning a dog that is considered "not vaccinated for rabies." If there is an exposure to a wild animal or the dog bites (or is "accused" of biting) a human or other dog, local health authorities can seize the dog for a lengthy quarantine (at the very least) or demand that the dog be immediately destroyed to examine the brain for rabies. A dog that is not currently vaccinated for rabies in NYS may not be "at large" in the community. This simply means that the dog is not allowed to be in the public. A vet may not examine a dog that is not vaccinated for rabies and in fact face a penalty for knowingly not giving a rabies vaccination. Chance did fine with the vaccination, there were no side effects. I have cut back to about every three years for titering both dogs now. my best patrice |
| Patrice NYS |
| Patrice, Thank you for your detailed overview. We plan to run titers for parovirus, distemper and rabies in the spring. Henri is due for his first year vaccines in January 2010. He had finished his puppy vaccine series right before his IMHA crisis. Both Dr Dodds and our internist have said Henri can never be vaccinated to anything again. The severity of Henri's IMHA coupled with the fact that they don't know forsure which vaccine caused the IMHA leaves us with difficult decisions. I am hoping the titers show he has good immunity---otherwise, his life will be very restricted. How old was Chance at diagnosis? Has his immunity to parovirus and distemper held to date? Our state, also, requires rabies every 3-years but that can be waived if the vet writes a letter stating the dog cannot be vaccinated. Thanks for the help! Warmly, Ella |
| Ella Seattle |
| Congrats Henri. Sounds like a good PCV. Happy to hear the chompers are coming. Vaccines!?!?!?!? ...... you could always move to Canada. You and Henri are welcome anytime. Johnny & Tessy |
| Johnny |
This thread was discussed between 19/11/2009 and 20/11/2009
Canine Autoimmune Hemolytic Anemia (AIHA & IMHA) forum index
This thread is from the Vetnet archive. The live Vetnet forum is active now.
