A Long Safety Record
Whether for disease prevention or treatment, the veterinarian, the animal owner and the public all have a right to expect that the preparation of animal medicines is reliably based on the triple standards of quality, safety and efficiency. The extremely stringent requirements for the product registration reflect this. If these requirements were not met, a vaccine would not be allowed on to the market. There are established procedures for reporting any suspect adverse reactions. Careful monitoring and review of products and disease patterns ensure that once on the market, vaccines remain safe and effective.
Today’s vaccines are very effective and have a remarkably high safety record. Each year, millions of doses are used annually in the UK alone. The use of vaccines has brought about levels of disease control against, for example, Canine parvovirus. This would have been almost unheard of a little more than a decade ago.
If an animal is not vaccinated or boostered it may be in danger of contracting one or more of these potentially lethal diseases. Sooner or later, an encounter with massive disease challenge could prove fatal.