Bordetella Part 2: Vaccine Schedule/ Risks & Adverse Reactions, Virus Shedding, Risks To Humans.

Welcome back! I hope you enjoyed Part 1 of this series! If you haven't read it yet, please go back and do so! Let's get down to business with a question so many pet owners ask: Should my pet be vaccinated for bordetella? How often should they be vaccinated? Is every 6 months too often? What are the risks? All these questions and MORE are covered here in Part 2!

The million dollar question.

We can, but we should really be asking:

I discussed a few things about efficacy above, but I'll dive into that a little bit further as we go along.

First, the bordetella vaccine is considered a non-core vaccination. Meaning, only dogs who are considered high risk of contracting the virus should get it. This includes dogs who frequent boarding kennels, groomers, training classes, dog parks, etc.

Core vaccines would be the rabies, distemper, etc.

This study showed that:

"Despite no history of vaccination against Bb, all 8 adult beagle dogs in Group A had prevaccination (baseline) IgG ELISA units ≥ 15, and were considered to have been previously exposed to Bb antigens."

My thoughts: Titer testing should be readily available in clinic to check antibody levels of dogs prior to vaccination in order to see if they are already immune. And then again before any re-vaccination.

Second, the vaccine contains only a few strains such as bordetella bronchiseptica (Bb), canine adenovirus-2 (CAV-2), and canine parainfluenza (CPI), that can cause respiratory illness in dogs.

We know there to be dozens, if not hundreds of agents that cause bordetella and other respiratory illness which produce the same set symptoms.

Researchers have found that when combining these multiple strains of viruses, it seems to protect better than a stand-alone bordetella vaccine.

Perhaps this is due to the co-infection connection we touched on earlier in Part 1.

Well, it used to be recommended annually... Today, many veterinarians recommend this vaccine be done every 6 months for high-risk dogs.
 

Every 6 months?
 That seems odd.
 

If this vaccine works so well, why do we have to give it so often?
 Perhaps it doesn't provide much, if any actual immunity..?
 

“Many animals receive “kennel cough” vaccines that include Bordetella and CPI and/or CAV-2 every 6 to 9 months without evidence that this frequency of vaccination is necessary or beneficial”

-Veterinary Immunologist Dr. Ronald Schultz PhD

Dr. Schultz also states that immunity can last 3-7 years.

AAHA guidelines say that duration of immunity with Bb/ CPI (IN) combo vaccine can last 12-24 months.

Yet, one bordetella vaccine insert specifically states:

"The need for annual booster vaccinations has not been established."

Source.

Therefore, we may be giving unnecessary and possibly unsafe doses, leading to an over-reactive immune system response, for what may or may not even equal up to actually immunity!

The duration of immunity has not even been tested for the oral or SQ bordetella vaccine.

Repeat vaccinations have been known to trigger hyper-reactive immune responses by promoting histamine release, mast cell activation and cytokine storms (a pro- inflammatory chemical the body makes when mounting an immune response), this leads to other inflammatory chemicals being produced such as excitotoxins, so-on and so-forth until the body is bombarded with a sudden burst of inflammation... hence the word 'storm'.

*Side note: this makes me wonder if the intranasal bordetella vaccines are contributing to the rise in nasal cancer in dogs by continually stimulating immune responses in sensitive mucosal nasal pathways.

Active infections can also cause this cytokine reaction in the body.

Think of it as a balloon; Each time you blow into it, you are expanding it further and further... one day, its bound to EXPLODE!

This is what frequent, repeat vaccinations can do to the immune system.

This is the type of over-stimulated immune reaction that can cause encephalopathy, brain damage and febrile seizures after humans get vaccines, particularly the pertussis vaccination (remember bordetella pertussis?). Surely it could happen to our pets as well. It just may not be noticed as much.

Now, I must say, the bordetella vaccine is one of the safer vaccinations available and won't likely trigger this type of response on it's own.. But there are other risk factors we must address when it comes to the potential for adverse reactions.

Giving multiple vaccines at once.

When a dog is 'due' for vaccination, they usually get 'the works.'

That's 8 vaccinations in one day.

The AAHA states that giving multiple vaccines at once increases the chance for adverse reactions.

Therefore, core and non-core vaccinations should be given 2 weeks apart.

Further evidence of adverse reactions in dogs based on number of doses given includes:

"The risk of a vaccine-associated adverse events (VAAE) significantly increased as the number of vaccine doses administered per office visit increased; each additional vaccine significantly increased risk of an adverse event by 27% in dogs ≤ 10 kg (22 lb) and 12% in dogs > 10 kg."

Source

Further complications and adverse reactions could be increased with frequent repeated doses (such as the every 6 months recommendation).

AAHA goes on to recommend the following guidelines for boostering this vaccine:

"Where risk of exposure is sustained, administer a single dose 1 yr following the last dose administered, then annually thereafter.

There is no known value in administering the IN vaccine bi-annually (every 6 mo)."

Source

Merck reiterates this and says the bordetella vaccine should be given annually.

So again, why are veterinarians recommending this every 6 months?!

And why are all 8 vaccines given at once?

There is ZERO science behind the efficacy or safety of these recommendations.

In fact, it's quite the opposite.

Perhaps it is driven by dollar signs, instead of patient safety..

If they advised that only 1 or 2 vaccines be given at once, they would likely lose business due to customers not returning for the rest.

In my opinion, client compliance could actually increase, and 'skipping out on doses' could be avoided all together by proper client education and a thorough explanation of why only a few should be done at one time.

Now that we've discussed what the bordetella virus is, how it's transmitted, what the vaccine is, it's schedule, risks and effectiveness; Let's discuss shedding!

If you do decide to vaccinate your dog for bordetella (this is 100% your choice as a pet owner), there are a few things you should know.

As stated previously, the virus used in this vaccine is live.

I also mentioned that dogs can shed the virus once it is in them, even if they have no symptoms.

Viral shedding is what happens after a pathogen has successfully replicated in the host and is then released into the body fluids, which are further expelled into the environment (via feces, sneezing, etc.)

This can happen when viral infection happens naturally, or after vaccination with a live virus (as they can replicate in the host).

The incubation period for Bordetella bronchiseptica is said to be 2-14 days.

"Bb is adapted to establish long-term asymptomatic infection."

Source

Since shedding can begin a few days before symptoms even arise, we must ask ourselves;

Let me just say, that a common (and very poor) practice being used, is that veterinarians and boarding facilities usually recommend the bordetella vaccine be given to board a dog with a minimal of just 3 days time between the actual vaccination and the dog's boarding stay.

Since shedding can continue for 2 weeks to several months, this virus is now being spread to other dogs in the facility, or even at dog parks.

Even if a dog isn't having symptoms now, he can still develop them later.

And just because your pet is asymptomatic, doesn't mean they aren't still shedding the virus (remember, it can be spread through communal water bowls).

Note: It takes anywhere from 2 days to 2 weeks for any type of immunity from a vaccine to even begin to develop and take effect.

So to me, this recommendation is pointless.

If you are going to give a vaccine, give ample time for shedding to minimize, and immunity to build. Preferably this would be about 2 or more weeks.

When I talked about risk factors earlier in this post, I mentioned that dogs who are at risk of infection include those who are stressed, in kennel facilities, immuno-compromised, or those who have parasites.

Are all of these factors ever discussed or evaluated with pet owners at an appointment? Rarely, if ever.

So now, we vaccinated a dog with a live virus and put them in a high stress boarding facility for the weekend.

This standard of practice puts some pets at an increased risk for contracting the live virus they were just [intentionally] exposed to.

When this is given simultaneously with multiple other vaccines in one visit, the body may struggle with mounting a response to 7+ different diseases and this live virus (or another) may see an opportunity to grab on, creating a now active infection.

Since B. bronchisepta is zoonotic, there could be a risk for humans.

And remember; B pertussis is human whooping cough.

Here's where it gets fun!

*Spoiler Alert! I'll admit, this was my favorite section of this series to put together!

Quick recap:

The bordetella vaccine uses a live virus, generally administered into the nasal passages of dogs (some clinics may offer the oral version).

And it's common for the dog to sneeze after administration...

Now, those little droplets of live virus are all over the room and in the air!

Which is exactly how this virus spreads.
 

"B. bronchiseptica has a gene that codes for pertussis toxin (PT).
 There is a previously unpublished report of a child who was exposed to a live Bordetella vaccine and developed pertussis-like illness."

*To view this and more articles on which animal vaccines can adversely affect humans, click HERE.

These viruses are in the same family, and have an identical symptom profile and mode of transmission.

This article also states that veterinarians should warn immuno-compromised individuals who are more at risk for potentially developing pertussis-like illness if they are exposed to a recently vaccinated dog who is shedding B. bronchiseptica.

"With the advent of aerosol vaccination in veterinary clinics for companion animals, human exposure to B. bronchiseptica has likely increased in recent years. Physicians should ask patients presenting with pertussis-like illness whether they have visited a veterinary clinic or have been exposed to a sick or recently vaccinated animal during the week before the onset of symptoms."

There have been multiple human cases (1, 2) of infection with Bordetella bronchiseptica known to have been from animal exposure.

Source

So now, dogs are spreading this to humans?

In my opinion, I'd say this is a fairly accurate theory.

Please recall that the bordetella vaccine was developed and commercialized for use in dogs in the 1980's.

Take a look at the pertussis timeline straight from the CDC's website:

So, what they mean to say is:

Pertussis cases in humans spiked the same time that the canine bordetella vaccine was introduced?

And kept increasing over the years?

How could this be?!

I'll let you think on that one.

I think it's safe to say there's quite a lot of information to analyze here.

There seems to be quite a bit of evidence that this vaccine doesn't actually work (a large percentage of the time), and it potentially has made these, and other diseases even worse and more prevalent!
 

How have we been fooled so badly?
 

Why are we not being told the entire truth?
 

Better yet, why are we being lied to?

Even better yet, why does no one ask questions?!
 

I must say, the only 2 times I gave the bordetella vaccine to my dogs, they developed kennel cough symptoms within 3 days.
 

I quit allowing it's administration. And haven't had an incidence again.

Wow that's a lot of information!

Believe me, I know... I wrote it all!

We are moving right along.

At this point, you might be asking yourself how you can protect your pet naturally.

Don't worry, I got all that covered!

Join me in PART 3 HERE!

Join as a Member for exclusive content & follow Happy Trails Pets on social media!

"Dedicated to helping, and empowering pet owners to make better decisions in order to improve the health and well-being of their pets, naturally. Because when you know better, you can do better."

Meet the Author:

Click here to receive one-on-one guidance from a dedicated professional for all your pet care needs!

Shop some of my top recommended products!