There have been some raised concerns over the use of the newer generation L4 (Leptospirosis) vaccination, following reports in the news and on social media. We would like to provide some more information to clarify some points about the use of vaccine.
Leptospirosis is a potentially fatal condition, transmitted mainly in rodent urine. As a principal, we vaccinate against the minimum number of conditions. Out of around 260 strains of leptospirosis known worldwide, only 2 strains had been implicated in causing disease in dogs in the UK, so our vaccines only contained these 2 (the L2 vaccine). In recent years concerns over the presence of other strains lead to their inclusion in the vaccines – the L4 vaccine.
We totally understand concerns given what has been online and in the media, however this doesn’t seem to be backed up by the evidence (we have checked as we of course want to be sure of the safety of products we are using). The Daily Mail and Telegraph articles which really started the storm quoted the WSAVA (world small animal veterinary association), who are indeed a very respected body who we would follow for advice on these matters. However the day after publication of the stories they issued statements explaining that they didn’t know anything about these reports and aspect of the articles are “blatantly untrue”.
The other bodies involved have also distanced themselves from these articles, including the VMD who monitor adverse reactions to veterinary drugs in the uk. These are summarised here:
https://mrcvs.co.uk/en/news/14677/Reaction-to-Nobivac-L4-article
Whilst any injection can cause reactions, these are routinely monitored in the whole of the UK and to date over 6 million doses of the L4 vaccine have been given. Adverse effects, no matter how slight, are reported and collated by the VMD, and medications showing high levels of problems, illness, death or reactions would be flagged up and withdrawn.
Whilst we do not want to pressure our clients into having treatments, we wanted to arm them with reliable evidence and information on which to base their decisions. Leptospirosis is a serious and potentially fatal condition which can infect people too. Not vaccinating would leave exposure to these risks and to reassure you we have looked into our vaccines choices closely and carefully and we would not use something which posed a significant risk to our clients’ pets.
Do let us know if you would like to discuss this further with one of our team.
