No, Your Dog Can’t Get Autism From a Vaccine

[DougRich]

LONDON — The anti-vaccine movement has come for the pets.

A spreading fear of pet vaccines’ side effects has prompted the British Veterinary Association to issue a startling statement this week: Dogs cannot develop autism.

The implicit message was that dog owners should keep vaccinating their pets against diseases like distemper and canine hepatitis because any concerns that the animals would develop autism after the injections were unfounded.

The warning has a long tail. It grew out of an anti-vaccine theory that rippled across the United States and Europe as networks known as “anti-vaxxers” claimed that childhood vaccinations could cause autism. The belief, promoted by some celebrities like the television personality Jenny McCarthy, who says her son has autism, spurred many parents to begin boycotting traditional vaccines.

The theory gained prominence in 1998, after a study published in the medical journal The Lancet purported to show a link between autism and the measles-mumps-rubella vaccination. It caused a firestorm in health circles and among parents, resulting in a significant drop in vaccination rates for children in Britain.

But the study has since been thoroughly discredited. It was formally retracted by the medical magazine and its lead author, Andrew Wakefield, who at the time was a doctor at the Royal Free Hospital in London, was subsequently struck off the British medical register over ethical lapses.

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Although I must say it would explain the personalities of about 80% of the cats I've ever lived with.

[Dr. Who]

LONDON — The anti-vaccine movement has come for the pets.

A spreading fear of pet vaccines’ side effects has prompted the British Veterinary Association to issue a startling statement this week: Dogs cannot develop autism.

The implicit message was that dog owners should keep vaccinating their pets against diseases like distemper and canine hepatitis because any concerns that the animals would develop autism after the injections were unfounded.

The warning has a long tail. It grew out of an anti-vaccine theory that rippled across the United States and Europe as networks known as “anti-vaxxers” claimed that childhood vaccinations could cause autism. The belief, promoted by some celebrities like the television personality Jenny McCarthy, who says her son has autism, spurred many parents to begin boycotting traditional vaccines.

The theory gained prominence in 1998, after a study published in the medical journal The Lancet purported to show a link between autism and the measles-mumps-rubella vaccination. It caused a firestorm in health circles and among parents, resulting in a significant drop in vaccination rates for children in Britain.

But the study has since been thoroughly discredited. It was formally retracted by the medical magazine and its lead author, Andrew Wakefield, who at the time was a doctor at the Royal Free Hospital in London, was subsequently struck off the British medical register over ethical lapses.

**************

Although I must say it would explain the personalities of about 80% of the cats I've ever lived with.

I might be one of those anti-vaxxers. Many dogs have experienced problems with having repeated rabies vaccines. I'm of the school that if your pet is not exposed to rabid animals, there is no reason to have yearly rabies shots. At best every 3 years is good enough and in fact the AAHA has so revised it's guidelines, which hasn't stopped vets from wanting to vaccinate your pet every year.

[DougRich]

We get Lily and Gemma vaccinated only as often as is necessary to keep them licensed; I think it's every two years. And we give them heartworm preventative religiously every month.