Large-scale survey of adverse reactions to canine non-rabies combined vaccines in Japan

Canine non-rabies combined vaccines are widely used to protect animals from infectious agents, and also play an important role in public health. We performed a large-scale survey to investigate vaccine-associated adverse events (VAAEs), including anaphylaxis, in Japan by distributing questionnaires on VAAEs to veterinary hospitals from April 1, 2006 through May 31, 2007. Valid responses were obtained for 57,300 vaccinated dogs at 573 animal hospitals; we obtained VAAEs information for last 100 vaccinated dogs in each veterinary hospital. We found that of the 57,300, 359 dogs showed VAAEs. Of the 359 dogs, death was observed in 1, anaphylaxis in 41, dermatological signs in 244, gastrointestinal signs in 160, and other signs in 106. Onset of VAAEs was mostly observed within 12 h after vaccination (n = 299, 83.3%). In this study, anaphylaxis events occurred within 60 min after vaccination, and about half of these events occurred within 5 min (n = 19, 46.3%). Furthermore, where anaphylaxis was reported, additional information to support the diagnosis was obtained by reinvestigation. Our resurvey of dogs with anaphylaxis yielded responses on 31 dogs; 27 of these demonstrated collapse (87.1%), 24 demonstrated cyanosis (77.4%), and both signs occurred in 22 (71.0%). Higher rates of animal VAAEs, anaphylaxis, and death were found in Japan than in other countries. Further investigations, including survey studies, will be necessary to elucidate the interaction between death and vaccination and the risk factors for VAAEs, and thus develop safer vaccines. Moreover, it may also be necessary to continually update the data of VAAEs.