Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2018 May;146(7):895-903.
doi: 10.1017/S0950268818000754. Epub 2018 Apr 11.

Use of vaccines and factors associated with their uptake variability in dogs, cats and rabbits attending a large sentinel network of veterinary practices across Great Britain

F Sánchez-Vizcaíno  1   2 , A Muniesa  3 , D A Singleton  2 , P H Jones  2 , P J Noble  4 , R M Gaskell  4 , S Dawson  4 , A D Radford  2
Affiliations

Use of vaccines and factors associated with their uptake variability in dogs, cats and rabbits attending a large sentinel network of veterinary practices across Great Britain

F Sánchez-Vizcaíno et al. Epidemiol Infect. 2018 May.

Abstract

Vaccination remains a mainstay of companion animal population health. However, how vaccine use at a population level complies with existing guidelines is unknown. Here we use electronic health records to describe vaccination in dogs, cats and rabbits attending a large sentinel network of UK veterinary practices. In total, 77.9% (95% CI: 77.6-78.1) of animals had recorded vaccinations. The percentage of animals with recorded vaccinations was higher in dogs, neutered animals, in insured dogs and cats and in purebred dogs. Vaccination rates varied in different regions of Great Britain in all species. Dogs and cats belonging to owners living in less deprived areas of England and Scotland were more likely to be recorded as vaccinated. In the vaccinated population, cats received more core vaccines per year of life (0.86) than dogs (0.75), with feline leukaemia vaccines almost as frequent as core vaccines. In dogs, leptospira vaccines were more frequent than core vaccines. This descriptive study suggests a substantial proportion of animals are not benefiting from vaccine protection. For the first time, we identify potential factors associated with variations in recorded vaccination frequency, providing a critical baseline against which to monitor future changes in companion animal vaccination and evidence to inform future targeted health interventions.

Keywords: Vaccination (immunization); vaccines; veterinary pathogens; veterinary virology.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

ADR receives research support from several vaccine companies and is a member of the European Advisory Board on Cat Diseases, which is supported by Merial.

Figures

Fig. 1.
Fig. 1.
Proportion of (a) dogs, (b) cats and (c) rabbits with at least one recorded vaccine date by time from the last recorded vaccine in animals attending a network of veterinary practices across Great Britain. For age in months, the first number is included in the interval (indicated by curly bracket), whereas the second number is excluded (indicated by square bracket).
Fig. 2.
Fig. 2.
Comparison of the recorded percentage of vaccinated dogs and the recorded percentage of vaccinated cats by premises in a network of veterinary practices across Great Britain.
Fig. 3.
Fig. 3.
Percentage of each number of core vaccines recorded as given over certain periods of an animal's life (i.e. the first 4 years, 4–8 years, and 8–12 years) in dogs (a) and cats (b) attending a network of veterinary practices across Great Britain.
Fig. 4.
Fig. 4.
The timing of recorded administration of core vaccines over the first 18 months of life in dogs (a) and cats (b) attending a network of veterinary practices across Great Britain.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Briggs DJ (2012) The role of vaccination in rabies prevention. Current Opinions in Virology 2, 309–314. - PubMed
    1. Gaskell RM, Dawson S and Radford AD (2006) Duration of immunity (DOI)—the regulatory issues. Veterinary Microbiology 117, 80–85. - PubMed
    1. Hartmann K, et al. (2015) Feline injection-site sarcoma: ABCD guidelines on prevention and management. Journal of Feline Medicine and Surgery 17, 606–13. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Scott FW and Geissinger CM (1999) Long-term immunity in cats vaccinated with an inactivated trivalent vaccine. American Journal of Veterinary Research 60, 652–8. - PubMed
    1. Lakshmanan N, et al. (2006) Three-year rabies duration of immunity in dogs following vaccination with a core combination vaccine against canine distemper virus, canine adenovirus type-1, canine parvovirus, and rabies virus. Veterinary Therapeutics 7, 223–31. - PubMed

Publication types