Vaccination and ill-health in dogs: a lack of temporal association and evidence of equivalence.
Following concerns raised over the safety of canine vaccines, an epidemiological investigation was conducted to evaluate the evidence for a temporal association between vaccination and ill-health in dogs. The owners of a randomly selected population of dogs were sent 9055 postal questionnaires, 4040 of which were returned. No temporal association was found between vaccination and ill-health in dogs after adjusting for potential confounders, such as age. However, reliable inferences from non-significant test results are limited and so equivalence-testing methods were also used to make informative inferences. Results demonstrated that recent vaccination (< 3 months) does not increase signs of ill-health by more than 0.5% and may actually decrease it by as much as 5%. This general approach should be used in all field studies of vaccine safety.
Edwards
D S
DS
Animal Health Trust, Lanwades Park, Kentford, Newmarket, Suffolk CB8 7UU, UK. david.edward@aht.org.uk
Henley
W E
WE
Ely
E R
ER
Wood
J L N
JL
D000818:Animals; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004283:Dog Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology*; D004285:Dogs; D005260:Female; D006305:Health Status Indicators; D008297:Male; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013997:Time Factors; D006113:United Kingdom / Q000453:epidemiology; D014611:Vaccination / Q000009:adverse effects*