The “Vaccinate?” Debate

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82 – June, 2020

By Sue M. Copeland

The virus came in deadly silence. One by one, it stalked its victims. There was no immunity against it. Clinics and hospitals around the U.S., and the world, soon were overwhelmed with patients; fatality rates soared. Sound familiar? It should: the canine parvovirus outbreak in the late 1970s did to dogs what the 2020 coronavirus (covid-19) outbreak is doing to humans.

“When parvovirus first occurred in the U.S., veterinary hospitals were completely overwhelmed, just as human hospitals have been this year with covid-19,” says Edward B. Breitschwerdt, DVM, DACVIM, professor of medicine and infectious disease at North Carolina State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine. “They had wards of dogs with bloody diarrhea; many of them were dying. It was a serious disease because there literally was no immunity amongst the dog population. It spread across the country in a matter of weeks to months, just as the coronavirus is doing worldwide in the human population.”

By 1979, a vaccine had been developed that helped end the parvovirus outbreak. Ironically today, a growing number of dog owners and breeders are opting out of the parvovirus vaccine, as well as other vaccines that have helped protect dogs—and humans—in years past.

WHY VACCINE “HESITANCY”?

The current movement away from vaccines by some humans and pet owners has been called “vaccine hesitancy.” The World Health Organization (WHO) listed this movement in its 2019 list of “Top 10 Threats to Global Health.”

That’s because the decline is real. For example, a 2019 British survey of 5,036 dog and cat owners, the PDSA Animal Well-Being (PAW) report, found only 66 percent of pets received primary vaccines when young, versus 84 percent in 2016. About one-third of those pets weren’t receiving regular boosters for longer-term protection.

Also mentioned in the PAW report: 98 percent of veterinarians have been questioned by their clients about the need for vaccines.

Click here to read the complete article
82 – June, 2020

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Posted by AnthonyA on Jun 22 2020. Filed under Current Articles, Featured. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.