Immunity and vaccination
What is immunity? If an animal (or person) is immune to a particular disease
it means there is little or no risk of falling ill to that disease.
Immunity in an adult dog may be as a result of a, regular vaccination b, the dog having suffered (and survived) the disease.
We are all under attack from micro-organisms which inhabit our world, we need
protection if we are to survive. Healthy bodies are equipped with several defence
mechanisms in operation all the time. These defences work well when the body is
healthy, but are not effective when the body is run down.
Since we do not want our pets to have to endure an episode of a disease to develop
they're on protection, we turn to the creation of active immunity by vaccination.
This is the deliberate triggering of the immune response by the given of small,
weak dose of the disease in order to stimulate the production of antibodies.
Fortunately bacteria and viruses can be genetically modified to reduce
they're
ability to cause disease yet maintain their ability to stimulate the formation
of active antibodies.
Vaccination How does a vaccine work
Why vaccinated? Immunity and vaccination Immunity in puppies? The first vaccination Annual boosters Vaccine reactions
Primary vaccination Booster vaccinations Record of Vaccination A word about immunity Maternally Derived Antibody Decay of MDA
|
