By Chris Holmes
In response to Danielle Holliday”s letter where she claims that “vaccines are the cause of diseases” based on her proof from a book published in 1920, I would like to issue a challenge. I can”t possibly prove her wrong when she claims that the CDC and other government medical agencies lie, deny and cover up statistics involving vaccines and disease, but we should take it with a grain of salt when we realize that many of Danielle”s letters involve some sort of conspiracy theory.
But as a veterinarian, I think I can prove her wrong when it comes to the parvo disease and vaccine that is all too common here in Lake County. Here is my challenge: I will pay for the treatment of every parvo infected dog that we see that has been properly vaccinated. I will also reimburse all the cost of the vaccines. There is a very accurate parvo test that determines the diagnosis. She will pay for the treatment of every parvo infected dog that has not been properly vaccinated. When I wrote the last letter, two weeks ago, we were currently treating two parvo puppies that survived and are totally normal now, but the cost of aggressive treatment averages $250 to $300 per day until they are better, which can be anywhere from a day to a week. Surely Danielle has nothing to lose if she truly believes that vaccines aren”t necessary and that the vaccine actually causes the illness.
Properly vaccinating a puppy for parvo means starting the vaccine at six to eight weeks of age and boostering it every two to three weeks until the puppy is 16 weeks of age. They are not completely protected until about their 16th week, when their immune system is capable of having a strong response of at least a year”s immunity. After a year old, a booster gives them at least three years of immunity. Puppies less than six to eight weeks of age are protected with maternal antibodies, assuming they nursed from a vaccinated mother. Those maternal antibodies wear off between six weeks and 16 weeks and they interfere with vaccine-induced antibodies. This is the reason why so many boosters are necessary, not because we veterinarians are pawns of the pharmaceutical companies wanting to make more money.
Also, Danielle should do a little better research. She should look into smallpox, which had been around since 10,000 B.C., killing approximately 400,000 Europeans every single year during the 1800s and into the 20th century. Thanks to widespread vaccination programs it was finally eradicated in 1979. The anti-vaccine people and conspiracy theory people cheat off the rest of us. We all accept a slight risk of vaccine side effects for the eventual goal of disease eradication. Those of you who don”t vaccinate yourselves or your animals get the benefit from the rest of us vaccinating.
So what do you say, Do you accept my challenge?
Chris Holmes
Lakeport
