Lyme's Vaccinations?

[Weed Shark]

Do I understand correctly, we have a Lyme's shot for dogs but no vaccinations for humans?

[LABS4ME]

Correct... mostly.

The old lyme vaccine we used in dogs (whole cell bacterin) was the same vaccine for humans... problem is it wasn't 100% effective and a certain percentage of those (dogs included) would get clinical Lymes from the vaccine. They pulled it from the market due to problems with humans contracting the disease from the shot... but allowed us to continue "vaccinating" canines.

The newer vaccines (it will only be a matter of time till it's approved for humans) does not work in the typical vaccine process we all know and understand( body builds up immunity), but rather causes those who are vaccinated to produce an 'outer surface protein' on the skin. When the tick ingests this protein, it kills the lyme bacteria while it's still inside the tick before it can be transferred to the host. Both Fort Dodge and Merriel use this method of vaccination now. After a long discussion with my vet, he has switched to Merriel which uses 'OSP B' which is the OSP to be found the most effective in studies by Cornell University. Others use a combination of OSP A and whole cell bactterin. Merriel's vaccine is found to be 100% effective at stopping Lymes infection. And they do not use any of the old whole cell bacterin. I believe it is the front runner to the next human vaccine.

Good Luck!

Ken

[Kallista]

Also Labs, they have the shot now for horses too!!

[Weed Shark]

Labs-

Thanks, great information.