6-combination vaccines in Japan

[Pepu]

Dear everyone,

As you may know we are preparing export/import documents. My Japanese yorkie is 4 months old and we would like to export her from Japan (her video is under video page in this forum.). Things are going well, except 6-combination vaccines. It is not necessary to have these vaccinations, however we wanted to include the history of vaccinations on the federal document. So that my dog can stay at hotels that require vaccine certificates.
Until now she received three times injections of 6-combination vaccine, called Canine-6 made by Kyoto Biken Laboratories, Inc. (Japan).

On the 1st of August, just after her 3rd injection, Japanese federal Agricultural Administrative office banded the company Kyotobiken and announced that most of their products are no longer accepted.
http://www.maff.go.jp/aqs/ov_cert_info.pdf
(Information is available only in Japanese)

The efficacy of most of the current products are invalid. The 6-combination vaccine that my dog received is also in the list, then we had to erase the history of her vaccinations. Then agricultural administration office told us to give another injection of 6-combination vaccine from different company, if we need to put a history of her vaccination on the federal document.

The vaccine is against canine distemper virus, canine adenovirus type 2, parainfluenza virus and canine parvovirus infections.

I worry her health. Although the product is told to be invalid, there might be a partial effects. Also giving multiple injections of vaccines in such a short period might cause adverse effects. Vaccination itself might cause side effects such as shock.

First we decided to measure antibody levels against the 6 pathogens.

Could you please let us hear your opinions?

Thank you very much.

Sincerely yours,
Pepu

[Pepu]

* correction

The vaccine is against canine distemper virus, canine adenovirus type 1 / 2, parainfluenza virus, coronavirus, and parvovirus infections.

[pstinard]

At this point, I would ONLY redo the vaccinations that are necessary for importing the Yorkie. For the timing schedule, see this thread: http://www.yorkietalk.com/forums/yor...-overview.html

You can also tell the importing authority about the vaccinations that have already been done and ask them if titers are acceptable. I doubt it, but you never know unless you ask.

[Lovetodream88]

Was the vaccine she got for the same things? I would be very worried bringing her over here with out properly being vaccinated for parvo.

[matese]

I would wonder what was in the invalid vaccine, would there be any side effects from what ever it was, what ever was in the invalid shots will it interact with the re-vaccination of valid vaccine. I would be worried to, this is a wee little baby. What ever you decide I pray this baby will be ok.

[Pepu]

Dear pstinard,

Thank you very much for your comment. Right equired vaccine is only against rabies. The rabies vaccination was done and the vaccine was recognized as effective by the government.

We sent her blood for a test of titers of 6 pathogens (for 6-combination vaccines). I am looking forward to seeing the result. Thank you for your comment, we will ask import authorities if the result is considered as official document, at least. Yes, you are right, we should try to ask. I hope there would be salvageable way. Thank you.

[Pepu]

Dear Lovetodream88,

Thank you so much for your message.
Yes we also worry a lot about parvovirus for such a tiny one just comes from very safe&clean environment at the breeder. We will cross borders and pass airports where are the places of potential contamination.

Unfortunately she received the same products with the same product lot number. I am looking forward to seeing the titer test result. If she does not have antibodies we will take her veterinary practice and get an effective vaccination.

[Pepu]

Dear Matese,

Thank you very much for your wish. Yes, she is a tiny baby (currently 1.8kg), we just hope she has enough antibodies.

We contacted the company if they could tell us any information about efficacy of 6 individual components of the vaccine. They said that their documentations of most products were recognized as invalid by the Japanese government. They believe that their products would work as they planned. We will see if their comments are right or not by seeing titer test of my baby.

The funny thing is that the company will not reimburse the vaccination costs to any of users. The Japanese government also does not force them to do so.

We are facing the trouble, but still we enjoy the process. We take these experiences as memories of my new dog

[Lovetodream88]

Originally Posted by Pepu

Dear Lovetodream88,

Thank you so much for your message.
Yes we also worry a lot about parvovirus for such a tiny one just comes from very safe&clean environment at the breeder. We will cross borders and pass airports where are the places of potential contamination.

Unfortunately she received the same products with the same product lot number. I am looking forward to seeing the titer test result. If she does not have antibodies we will take her veterinary practice and get an effective vaccination.

The problem with titers is there not really reliable. This is something one of out moderators said

Titers

The important points to remember when considering titers are:

** Titers are a blood test that measure humoral immunity (antibodies in the blood); they cannot measure cellular immunity.

** There can be a positive titer result, but no cellular immunity present (meaning, they could get the disease in question)

** There can be a negative titer result, yet cellular immunity can be present (meaning, they would be able to attempt to fight the disease)

In a nutshell, whether a positive or negative result - titers can only tell you a small part of the picture; they are not definitive or conclusive in terms of guidance in whether to vaccinate, or not.

[Pepu]

Dear everyone,

Finally we have got the result. It looks fine.

Antibodies
canine adenovirus (CAV) type 2 = 1:180
canine coronavirus (CCV) = 1:800
canine parainfluenza virus (CPi) = 1:240
canine distemper virus (CDV) = 1:2,560
canine parvovirus-2 (CPV) = 1:640
canine adenovirus (CAV) type 1 = 1:40

All the titer tells us enough effects against the pathogens, based on reference value by inspection organization. Of course, we still do not know about the efficacy of cellular immunity.
The vaccine from Kyoto Biken sounds working although the products were banned by the Japanese government.

[Lovetodream88]

Originally Posted by Pepu

Dear everyone,

Finally we have got the result. It looks fine.

Antibodies
canine adenovirus (CAV) type 2 = 1:180
canine coronavirus (CCV) = 1:800
canine parainfluenza virus (CPi) = 1:240
canine distemper virus (CDV) = 1:2,560
canine parvovirus-2 (CPV) = 1:640
canine adenovirus (CAV) type 1 = 1:40

All the titer tells us enough effects against the pathogens, based on reference value by inspection organization. Of course, we still do not know about the efficacy of cellular immunity.
The vaccine from Kyoto Biken sounds working although the products were banned by the Japanese government.

Did they say why they banned them? Were they not working or was there something in them that was unsafe? Just kind curious.