“To Vaccinate or not to Vaccinate”
This is the question.
There is no question.
Don’t do it.

The state of Pennsylvania has the third highest incidence of Lyme disease;after New York and Connecticut. Ticks are already out and about. So it makes sense to vaccinate your dog against Lyme disease, right? Wrong. I encourage you to learn the facts about this vaccine before you decide.

• It is questionable if the vaccine imparts immunity to the disease at all. If it does the duration is short.
• Many dogs who have been vaccinated for Lyme disease still contract the disease. Research shows that some dogs are at risk to contract deadly autoimmune disease from the vaccine. In fact, the Retriever breeds (Golden and Labrador) along with the Shetland Sheepdog are at the highest risk of autoimmune kidney disease resulting from Lyme disease or the vaccination.
• The vaccine does not appear to protect against the most serious form of Lyme disease and may even aggravate it.
• The only Lyme vaccine approved for humans (SmithKline Beecham Biologicals) was taken off the market, after 3 years, do to poor sales and concerns Medical Doctors had about vaccine immune mediated disease. A Class Action Lawsuit was filed against the vaccine makers.
• The autoimmune sequela to Lyme disease are life threatening and far more problematic than the disease itself.
• Thirty percent of the dogs with life- threatening Lyme disease induced autoimmune kidney disease were previously vaccinated.

In short, why would you want to vaccinate your dog with a vaccine that is not proven to immunize and which can bring about severe autoimmune kidney problems and may cause your dog to have more complications if he contracts Lyme disease after receiving the vaccine? The question provides it’s own answer. I wouldn’t.

Because you now know that your dog can contract Lyme disease even after receiving the vaccination, make sure you test with the Idexx SNAP test; for this laboratory test can differentiate between the vaccine and natural exposure. If the test is positive, follow up with a Idexx C-6 Antibody test to ascertain how badly he is infected.

If you want more information about Lyme disease, feel free to contact my practice right away. Much of the research and the studies that provided the facts for this article were presented in papers written by Meryl Littman, VMD, DACVIM at the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine.

Dr. Deva Khalsa, VMD