VACCINATION has been a contentious issue since the introduction of the smallpox vaccine in the 19th Century, which caused public hysteria.

Despite the scaremongering and gnashing of teeth (all from people who knew absolutely nothing about the immune system or vaccination), we are still here and smallpox virus has been totally eradicated from the human population.

Recently, much attention has been focused on the vaccination of dogs, with some claiming that there is controversy over annual vaccination. Let’s clear this up now, once and for all: there is no controversy.

Fact: vaccination has greatly reduced the incidence of killer canine diseases like Distemper, Hepatitis and Parvovirus and, if we stop vaccinating now, they will return.

The claim of an anti-vaccination group that vaccination can create ill-health in dogs has been given far more media coverage than it merits, especially since it was based only on a review of one vet’s records (and guess which axe he has to grind.) It should be borne in mind that the same group believe that homeopathic nosode vaccination to be effective, despite a wealth of properly conducted scientific trials proving that they provide protection when dogs are actually challenged by disease.

Now we have a situation where many dog owners are concerned about the effects of vaccination and may opt to leave their pets exposed to disease. A cool, calm look at the facts, and not the hysteria, is required.

Fact: annual vaccinations are not required for every disease, every year (when pressure groups moan about over-vaccination, they fail to mention this). Most vets will only give the Distemper and Parvovirus vaccine every three years, after the first annual booster. Leptospirosis, however, still needs to be vaccinated against every year.

It is also true that some dogs will gain longer immunity after vaccination than others and so will not need to be vaccinated as often. Unfortunately, this can only be determined by blood sampling, which is far more expensive than vaccination and would need to be done regularly.

Fact: vaccination does not, despite all the nonsense claims, cause illness in dogs. The world renowned Animal Health Trust, a scientific charity based in Newmarket, has published the results of a trial which gives the clearest evidence yet that the routine vaccination of dogs, in the UK, does not increase the frequency of illness.

The trial, nicknamed POOCH (Practice Overview of Canine Health) assessed the health of 3,966 dogs after vaccination.

The result was simple. Dr James Wood, head of epidemiology at the Animal Health Trust, explained, “People should understand that our research results clearly demonstrate the absence of any deleterious association between routine vaccination and signs of ill health.

“This is completely contrary to the claims which have hit the headlines”.

There will always be people who take limited and flawed information and use it to suit their agenda. There will always be people who are anti-vaccination for reasons known only to themselves.

But here is my last fact: If we don’t vaccinate, there will always be disease.