>Brad Cooley wrote:
>I know many people, including myself and my wife, that received vaccine
>shots as children and showed no immunity to certain diseases as young
>adults and adults.  Vaccination does not guarantee immunity to disease.

I vaccinate my dogs, but use killed viruses only, and separate the
vaccines
from each other by several weeks or more, omitting the Lepto fraction
which
causes the most allergic responses due to the medium it is grown in.

Over time as a breeder I have seen that once in a while a batch of
vaccine
must have been defective (too weak or too strong; the too-strong
batches can
be very dangerous when it is modified-live virus which is why I only
use
killed viruses).

Also, not everyone has a normal immune system capable of reacting to a
germ
by forming antibodies.  Maybe the immune system is already busy
fighting off
a subclinical infection. Or the immune system has been damaged or
suppressed
by a course of antibiotics or steroids, so it cannot respond normally.
If
someone has one vaccine failure, it is likely to be the vaccine, but
if they
have two or more situations where they were vaccinated but caught the
disease anyway, they may have an immunological problem and may have
trouble
forming antibodies or maintaining them as long as the average.

Vaccination is only effective when correctly-prepared vaccines are
given to
healthy beings with normal immune systems.  Exposure to mild cases of
a
disease is called "natural vaccination".  My breeder goes to dog shows
all
over the UK and never washes her hands or shoes when returning home
after
handling dogs all day, even if she has little puppies at home, or a
pregnant
girl. She MUST bring home some nasty germs, distemper and parvo and
other
stuff, but her dogs have excellent immunity and do not get sick from
the
exposure. (Her dogs eat raw meat and bones, though, so their
resistance
should be optimal.)
>
>Deborah replied:
>I'll say. I was vaccinated against chicken pox and not only did I get it, I
>had it three times, which  I'm told is "impossible." I also got measles
>when I was about 14, and I had been vaccinated against that, too.


Some people cannot form a titer against varicella even though their
immune
systems are normal against other germs.  I only had chicken pox once,
but my
mother and brother and I have all had shingles several times.  I have
had
shingles three times in the last 5 years. Believe me, I would rather
have
chicken pox again than shingles, boy is that agonizingly painful!!!!

laurie (Mother Mastiff)