Guidelines for the vaccination of dogs and cats
Guidelines for the vaccination of dogs and cats. kittens associated with unusual risk may be vaccinated at younger ages or at more frequent intervals. Rabies vaccination is usually first given at 4 months of age.14 It is a common and efficacious practice to provide booster doses at 1 year of age for most vaccines.14 These immunization practices will provide a solid duration of immunity of at least 5 to 7 years and longer in some cases. General recommendations (World Small Animal Veterinary Association) are to vaccinate every third year after the initial immunization series, and these recommendations are consistent with product label guidelines.12 These initial immunization guidelines are derived Cevimeline hydrochloride from the initial registration immunogenicity and efficacy studies Cevimeline hydrochloride for any individual vaccine product. The efficacy studies define the minimum immunologic strength for the vaccine (the potency that must be present when the vaccine lot goes out of date). These same types of studies also define the minimum age of animals that can be successfully immunized as well as the specifics of the initial and booster immunization regimens (part 9, Code of Federal Regulations). It has become very clear that many vaccines provide effective and long-term immunity for an extended period of time.11 Over the past 3 decades, cumulative evidence for extended duration of immunity has been provided to support the 3-year booster intervals for most vaccines in dogs and cats. However, as described in Table 1, the relative efficacy of some vaccines is usually less than ideal. Vaccine efficacy and effectiveness Ideal immunity would be not only protection from clinical disease (morbidity and mortality) but also blocking the contamination/replication/spread or progression of infectious brokers. Some vaccines do achieve this degree of protection. Some, however, may only reduce morbidity and/or mortality without generating a sterilizing immunity. Based on clinical and microbiological outcomes of an efficacy study challenge of immunity, various degrees of protection may be achieved and therefore claimed. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has recognized these differences through a hierarchy of efficacy claims that may be allowed for a vaccine based on the outcomes of efficacy studies (Box 1 ). Box 1 Efficacy claims on USDA-regulated biologic products Veterinary Services Memorandum NO. 800.202 (USDA-APHIS-CVB)Subject: General Licensing Considerations: Efficacy Studies To: Biologics Licensees, Permittees, and Applicants 4.2 A claim that it is intended to prevent infection may be made only for products able to prevent all colonization or replication of the challenge organism in vaccinated and challenged animals. If SOX18 such a conclusion is supported with a very high degree of confidence by convincing data, a label statement such as for the prevention of contamination with [specific microorganism] may be used. 4.2.2 A claim that it is intended to prevent disease may be made only for products shown to Cevimeline hydrochloride be highly effective in preventing clinical disease in vaccinated and challenged animals. The entire 95% interval estimate of efficacy must be at least 80%. If so, a label statement such as for the prevention of disease due to [specific microorganism] may be used. 4.2.3 A claim that it is intended to aid in disease prevention may be made for products shown to prevent disease in vaccinated and challenged animals by a clinically significant amount which may be less than that required to support a claim of disease prevention (section 4.2.2). If so, a label statement such as as an aid in the prevention of disease due to [specific microorganism] may be used. 4.2.4 A claim that it is intended to aid in disease control may be made for products which have been shown to alleviate disease severity, reduce disease duration, or delay disease onset. If so, a label statement such as as an aid in the control of disease due to [specific microorganism] or a similar one stating the product’s particular action may be used. 4.2.5 Products with beneficial effects other than direct disease control, such as the control of infectiousness through the reduction of pathogen shedding, may make such claims if the size of the effect is clinically significant and well supported by the data. The.