[Dailydrool] Vaccine rxns

[Laura Tancredi]

I know this might start the big vaccine debate but in response to Ella's friend Yoshi getting sick from the DHPP vaccine.  This is extremely rare.  I imagine that Yoshi already had a reactive immune system if he had allergic responses before.  It sounds like it is an auto-immune response where his immune system detects his own red blood cells as foreign and are attacking him therefore causing his PCV (packed cell volume) to be 5%.  At that point a blood transfusion and high doses of steriods to suppress the immune system would be indicated along with ICU hospitalization.  We are hoping that Yoshi does well and pulls through.  My aunt's dog had a similar response when he was on an allergy injection - 10 day at U of Penn's Vet Hosp, and he made it through it.  
As an alternative to getting the vaccines a titer can be run yearly to determine if previous vaccines have provided adequate response to protect the dog from distemper, parvovirus and parainfluenza.  Parvo is alot more common than an auto-immune response to a vaccine, and alot cheaper to prevent then treat.
Laura
Flash 
and Ryu