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  Discussion on Research Study: New and Improved Killed Influenza Vaccine
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DrO

Posted on Monday, Jul 20, 2009 - 10:25 am:

The immunity gap they talk about below is the superior protection offered by MLV vaccines vs killed vaccines. Killed vaccines do offer some advantages over MLV of which the main one may be that they will take far more abuse in handling than a live vaccine. This is important when you consider the vaccine must be transported outside to the horse in a variety of environments. Killed vaccines can be also be added to combination vaccines requiring fewer injections. There is always concern that a modified vaccine may revert back to a virulent type but this concern seems overblown. Anyway this killed influenza vaccine appears in early research to give better immunity than other killled vaccines which appears to be largely attributed to a better adjuvant.
DrO

Vaccine. 2009 Jul 13.
The first safe inactivated equine influenza vaccine formulation adjuvanted with ISCOM-Matrix that closes the immunity gap.

Heldens JG, Pouwels HG, Derks CG, Van de Zande SM, Hoeijmakers MJ.
Intervet Schering Plough Animal Health, Department for Virological R&D, W. de Körverstraat 35, 5831 AN Boxmeer, The Netherlands.

Equine influenza is a contagious diseases caused by equine influenza viruses which belong to the orthomyxovirus family. Outbreaks of equine influenza cause severe economic loses to the horse industry and consequently competition horses are required to be regularly vaccinated against equine influenza. Currently available inactivated vaccines are only able to induce protection against clinical disease and virus excretion after a primary vaccination course consisting of three vaccine applications at 4-6 and 22-26 weeks apart. It has been suggested that these vaccines induce no adequate protection in horses at 22-26 weeks (5 months) in the primary vaccination course (immediately prior to the last booster), despite various alternative vaccination regimens proposed. In this paper we describe the efficacy and safety profile, tested in an experimental setting according to European legislation of a novel inactivated equine influenza vaccine formulation (Prequenza). This formulation consists besides influenza antigen, of second generation ISCOM-Matrix as an adjuvant. The vaccine aims at the induction of protection from the onset of immunity, i.e. after the first two vaccine applications, until the first booster given 5 months later, against challenge with a virulent equine influenza strain. The protection against A/equine/Kentucky/95 (H3N8) was evidenced by a reduction of clinical signs of influenza, a reduction of virus excretion and a reduction of fever. The vaccine was shown to be safe in pregnant mares, foals and is used safely since 2 years as a commercial vaccine in Europe.
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