Chihuahuas and Leptovirus
OK everyone this is very important and you need to beware of the risks you are taking if your vet gives your chihuahua Leptovirus.
Why? Leptospirosis is a bacterial rather than a viral disease. Consequently, the canine lepto shot is not a modified live virus vaccine, but is a chemically inactivated bacterium containing more potential antigens (individual disease units) capable of causing reactions. As in P.C.'s case, anaphylaxis does not occur after the first inoculation, but after the second or third when antibodies produced by the puppy's immune system become hypersensitive.
Allergic reactions are not the lepto shot's only drawback. Existing leptospira bacterium provide neither as high a level nor as long a duration of immunity as modified live canine vaccines. Of the four most common leptospirae known to infect dogs [L.canicola, L. icterohemorrhagiae, L. pomora and L. grippotyphosa], the lepto shot. currently available contains only two bacterium: L. canicola and L. icterohemorrhagiae. The primary immunization series, usually requiring three inoculations, provides only six months protection against the disease. Subsequent vaccination programs, normally based on annual boosters, are thus inadequate . A 1989 Tufts University study of 17 dogs with confirmed leptospirosis showed all 17 to be infected with L. pomona and L. grippotyphosa which are not currently included in lepto vaccines. Nine of the 17 dogs had been vaccinated against leptospirosis within the previous six months.
So please ask your vet; For a 5 way shot not a 7 way, the 5 way contains no Lepto and the 7 way does.
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