Vaccines are helpful in fighting diseases and infections in animals before they occur. They are normally administered days, months, or even years before they occur as a way of preparing the animal’s body against potential attack from diseases. Various factors are influence the desired effects of vaccination. These factors have been classified into three groups: host factors, human factors and environmental factors (Sing, 2015). The farmer and the sanitary manager must, therefore, take the necessary steps the practices applied during the vaccine administration and other external factors.
The host factors most influencing the efficacy of vaccines include conditions on the farm and the animal itself. These factors are grounded in the theory that only healthy animals should be vaccinated. The first factor is the maternal antibody (Olson et al. 2017). Newborn animals obtain certain types of antibodies from their mothers, which later circulate in their blood system. At times, the maternal antibodies are too high to protect the animal from diseases and at times too low to allow the vaccine to work. Another host factor is concurrent disease (Sing, 2015). Infectious diseases need an incubation period before clinical indicators of illness can be seen. The incubation period could be as long as years or as short as some hours. An animal that is incubating an infectious disease at the time of vaccination is likely to develop some clinical signs. The immune system function is also another factor ( Sing, 2015). For an animal to respond properly to a vaccine, it must have an effective immune system. The animal’s age also plays a role. Old age is believed to suppress the response of vaccines (Choi et al. 2011).
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The second group is human factors which are basically within the control of the farmer or the vaccinator. This group is all about how the vaccinator carries out the vaccination operation. These factors are based on the theory that a vaccine will only confer good protection if it is stored and administered correctly. The first factor is incorrect storage or handling of the vaccine which causes ineffective vaccine being administered thus failing to provide the required protection (Olson et al. 2017). So, it is important to maintain the vaccines at the correct cold or cool temperatures during storage and transportation including during use. Importantly, the shelf life of the vaccine should not be exceeded. Another human-related factor is inadequate time between the vaccination and the vaccine exposure (Sing, 2015). Vaccines do not give protection immediately. It takes days, weeks or even more for an animal’s body to respond to a vaccine. Young animals are highly prone to diseases if they are exposed to diseases and infections before a vaccination has started working to stimulate the body’s immunity (Choi et al. 2011).
The final category involves environmental factors. Though farmers may try to control animal diseases under normal conditions, severe environmental conditions may prove to be a challenge. A good example is the case of kittens, which were infected with feline parvovirus (FPV) (Olson et al. 2017). Initially, FPV had not been suspected to cause death since vaccination had been administered in the area where the disease occurred. The diseases however developed following the accumulation of virus in an environment that infected the kittens during the weaning of maternal antibodies and the vaccine administration.
Summary
Various factors influence the effectiveness of vaccines in animals. These factors have been classified into three groups: host factors, human factors and environmental factors. Aspects such as inadequate time between the vaccination and the vaccine exposure, concurrent disease, maternal antibodies, immune system function, incorrect storage or handling of the vaccine and many more play a role in the success of the vaccinations administered. Respecting these factors with is important. Failure to regard any of them will eventually compromise the overall quality of the vaccination. Therefore, this calls for the seamless working relationship among all the stakeholders in government and sector for the desired benefits to be realized optimally.
References
Choi, I. S., Han, E. R., Kim, Y. J., Yoon, J. Y., Kim, S. S., Seo, I. K., Jang, Y. J., ... Park, C. S. (January 01, 2011). Personal Factors Affecting Therapeutic Responses to BCG Vaccination in Asthmatics. Allergy, Asthma & Immunology Research, 3, 3, 178-85.
Olson, Z. F., Sandbulte, M. R., Souza, C. K., Perez, D. R., Vincent, A. L., & Loving, C. L. (January 01, 2017). Factors affecting induction of peripheral IFN-γ recall response to influenza A virus vaccination in pigs. Veterinary Immunology and Immunopathology, 185, 57-65.
Sing, A. (2015). Zoonoses - Infections Affecting Humans and Animals: Focus on Public Health Aspects . Dordrecht: Springer Netherlands.
