Conversations with Dr. Bob Rogers, DVM
(What follows is my on-going converstation with Dr. Bob about vaccine durations)
----- Original Message -----
From: sentient@ucat.us
To: drbob@critteradvocacy.org
Sent: Thursday, January 25, 2007 4:40 PM
Subject: Merial PUREVAX Rabies - 3 year duration pending?
Hello, I was reading your webpage (below) and saw that you state that Merial's PUREVAX feline rabies vaccine, which is currently a one year duration vaccine, has a 3 year duration license pending. Can you tell me your source for this information, or otherwise confirm this information? Do you know the expected date this new duration will be in effect? I called merial, and they were unable to discuss it with me, they said the USDA does not allow them to discuss anything other than what is on the vaccine label at this time. I would very much like to confirm that a three year duration period is in the works for this vaccine. Did you contact the USDA for this information?
http://critteradvocacy.org/Feline%20Vaccination%20Guidlines.htm
Best Regards,
Jennifer Phaewryn O'Gwynn
----- Original Message -----
From: Dr. Bob Rogers
To: sentient@ucat.us
Sent: Thursday, January 25, 2007 6:10 PM
Subject: Re: Merial PUREVAX Rabies - 3 year duration pending?
Dr. Stieme at Merial (no longer there); Dr. Richard Ford from University of N. Carolina, AAFP, and consultant for Merial; and Dr. Ron Schultz from University Wisconsin, AAFP; all three told me that in the study for licensing, all the vaccinated cats were protected, but not enough of the control cats developed rabies, so they have to start the study all over. Richard Hill at the USDA confirmed this.
No one at Merial has confirmed that the study was started over.
I know this is very frustrating.
Sincerely,
Dr. Bob
----- Original Message -----
From: sentient@ucat.us
To: Dr. Bob Rogers
Sent: Thursday, January 25, 2007 7:43 PM
Subject: Re: Merial PUREVAX Rabies - 3 year duration pending?
Yes, very frustrating! My vet keeps sending me all these postcards "time to update your cat's vaccines", "Your cat is severely OVERDUE for his rabies vaccine". I keep thinking, if I just hold out a bit longer, it might be a 3 year duration vaccine. I refuse to give any vaccine more than once every 3 years, and I also refuse to give an adjuvanted vaccine... so I'm a bit stuck until merial gets that reclassified! Do you have any idea how long that study took (the one that failed due to the controls)? I assume a little over the 3 years required, as you'd need time for vaccine response and rabies incubation, right? And how long ago were you told this information? I guess what I am trying to figure out is, IF merial has restarted the trials, how long would it take to complete it if they started immediately after your contact there told you that information? I did call merial, and while I was told that they are not allowed to discuss anything other than what is printed on the currently approved vaccine label, she did say that all calls are monitored and when I asked if she could be sure that her supervisor knew about my call, and that I am anxiously awaiting that new duration reclassification. She assured me that even though she couldn't discuss it with me, she would be SURE my message went to her supervisor (and she sounded sincere, even happy that I had found "a way around" the fact that she couldn't give me any of the answers I wanted from her). I suppose we could start a call-in campaign, if enough of us called and urged them along, perhaps they would get it accomplished faster. What do you think? I am a member of several large cat email groups all of which have good knowledge on VAS and other vaccine issues. I am sure I could get at least 1000 calls in if I approached it right.
Your website is very helpful, thank you for posting the information you have there. I honestly did not expect such a quick reply! May I suggest that you post your sources on that webpage? It adds a large amount of credibility when you quote sources.
Phaewryn
----- Original Message -----
From: Dr. Bob Rogers
To: sentient@ucat.us
Sent: Friday, January 26, 2007 10:05 AM
Subject: Re: Merial PUREVAX Rabies - 3 year duration pending?
Jennifer, I think your approach to vaccinations is very well thought out. I think your efforts would be better spent having 1000 people contacting the press, or Oprah, or Dateline.
Sincerely,
Dr. Bob
----- Original Message -----
From: sentient@ucat.us
To: drbob@critteradvocacy.org
Sent: Thursday, March 15, 2007 6:28 PM
Subject: More questions about vaccines - single dose protection this time
Hi again Dr. Bob, it's always a pleasure talking with you! I have convinced a great many people since we last spoke that annual boosters are not necessary in many cases, but now the question has been brought up about the original vaccination "series". I am finding much evidence online that MANY vaccines provide long-lived immunity with a SINGLE dose, and thus I believe that there isn't any reason to give a "series" of vaccines to a young animal. But, I am having trouble finding studies to back this up. I can find lots of non-feline ones, but not many feline studies for feline diseases/viruses. Can you point me towards some online feline studies that show high immunity after a single dose of vaccine? Here are the links I have so far that prove the point that single dose vaccines are often effective:
http://www.heska.com/ultranasal/pr_info.asp (proven effective single dose intranasal FVRCP vaccine - cats)
http://www.news-medical.net/?id=12817 (proven effective single dose Typhoid vaccine - humans)
http://www.nih.gov/news/pr/jun2005/niaid-01a.htm (proven effective single dose shingle vaccine - humans)
http://www.enn.com/wild.html?id=1226&ref=rss (proven effective single dose bird flu vaccine - humans)
http://medicine.plosjournals.org/perlserv/?request=get-document&doi=10.1371/journal.pmed.0020183 (proven effective single dose Lassa vaccine - monkey test subjects in prehuman trials)
http://cat.inist.fr/?aModele=afficheN&cpsidt=14084459 (proven effective single dose encephalitis vaccine - humans. Of particular interest, this was done side by side with a two dose series study, and the effectivness was less then 1% more with two doses... hardly worth the side effects and risks!)
http://avmajournals.avma.org/doi/abs/10.2460/ajvr.2004.65.1459?journalCode=ajvr (proven effective single dose West Nile vaccine - horses)
http://www.spiritessence.com/index.php?action=library&act=show&item=vaccination says:
"Dr. Ronald Schultz at the University of Wisconsin is the premier vaccine researcher in the country. He says, that 'canine distemper and adenovirus-2 vaccines both provide good lifelong immunity. These need not be given annually.' He says the same about the feline distemper (panleukopenia) vaccine. He believes that a single dose of modified live vaccine given at 10-14 weeks of age is protective for life. Both canine and feline distemper vaccines have been shown to induce immunity for 5-7 years or more. Moreover, all of these are diseases of young animals; older animals are naturally more resistant. Once vaccinated, adult animals are typically fully immune. "
http://critteradvocacy.org/Vaccination%20Concerns.htm says:
"The AVMA Council on Biologic and Therapeutic Agents (COBTA) presented their consensus at the July, 2000 137th Annual AVMA Convention. They focused on the following points:
When an annual booster vaccination with a modified live virus vaccine (i.e. Distemper , Parvovirus or Fe Distemper) is given to a previously vaccinated adult animal - no added protection is provided. Modified live virus vaccines depend on the replication of the virus for a response. Antibodies from previous vaccines do not allow the new virus to replicate. Antibody titers are not boosted significantly, memory cell populations are not expanded. No additional protection is provided.
Vaccine Manufacturers label claims should be backed by scientific data. There is no scientific data to support label directions for re-administration of MLV vaccines annually."
My case would be much more convincing to the CAT community it is being discussed on if I had more feline studies as reference!
Thanks again!
Phaewryn