Download CAPSULES THE CURRENT LITERATURE IN

CAPSULES
THE CURRENT LITERATURE IN BRIEF
Administering Vaccines Effectively
Feline herpesvirus 1 (FHV-1)–infected cats
can develop severe respiratory and ocular
disease that may lead to death or euthanasia. In the United States, there are 3 vaccine formulations for prophylaxis:
modified live (ML) vaccine for SC administration, ML for IN administration, and
an inactivated vaccine for SC administration. In this study, 2 different vaccination
strategies were compared with an unvaccinated control. In group 1 (n = 8), kittens
received a single SC dose and a single IN
dose of a ML vaccine concurrently. Group
2 kittens (n = 8) received a single SC dose
of the same ML vaccine used in group 1.
Seven days after vaccination, the 2 treatment groups and untreated control were
challenged with an FHV-1 strain, and clinical scores were recorded for the next 21
days. Kittens in group 1 had significantly
less severe clinical illness than those in
group 2. In addition, there was significantly less FHV-1 shedding detected on
DNA pharyngeal swabs in group 1 compared with group 2.
n Global Commentary
This study will be of interest to practitioners in North America, but in most
other parts of the world the intranasal
core vaccines for cats are not available. It is
important to appreciate the difference in
efficacy between the 3 feline core vaccine
components. A cat appropriately vaccinated against feline parvovirus will be
protected from infection and disease, but
the FHV-1 and feline calicivirus (FCV)
vaccines do not prevent infection. Instead,
these vaccines claim only to reduce the
severity of clinical illness and potentially
also virus shedding.
This novel study shows that providing
FHV-1 vaccine by the parenteral and local
mucosal routes leads to a more effective
immune response in the upper respiratory
tract that equates to better protection.
While the study is interesting, it is not a
recommendation to start adopting this
protocol in general practice for our regular
veterinarian-visiting feline patients. Use of
a parenteral infectious (ML virus)
combination core vaccine remains the
approach of choice globally and the current global recommendations for kitten
core vaccination are a first dose at 8–9
weeks of age, a second 3–4 weeks later, a
third at 16 weeks of age or older, followed
by revaccination at 12 months of age.—
Michael J. Day, BSc, BVMS(Hons), PhD,
DSc, DiplECVP, FASM, FRCPath, FRCVS
n n Source
Concurrent administration of an intranasal
vaccine containing feline herpesvirus-1 (FHV-1)
with a parenteral vaccine containing FHV-1 is
superior to parenteral vaccination alone in an
acute FVH-1 challenge model. Reagan KL,
Hawley JR, Lappin MR. VET J 201:202-206,
2014.
Research Note: Staging Lung Cancer
onehealthinitiative.com
Detection of primary lung tumor metastasis to regional lymph
nodes affects prognosis and therapeutic choices. Surgical biopsy
of intrathoracic lymph nodes is recommended during lung tumor
resection, but specific guidelines for dogs are lacking. In humans,
there is a standard lymph node mapping and classification system
used for surgical staging of lung cancer. This study investigated
the validity of this anatomic classification system for regional
lymph nodes in normal dogs, intraoperatively and postmortem.
The utility of lobar methylene blue dye and technetium-99m for
identifying nodes was also explored.
A unilateral intercostal thoracotomy was performed in 10 adult
Walker hounds; 2 additional dogs underwent bilateral thoracotomies. Dogs were injected subpleurally at several sites with either
methylene blue dye alone or in combination with technetium99m filtered sulfur colloid. Time to first visual appearance of
blue-tinged lymph node and/or detectable radioactive lymph
node signal was noted. All blue, radioactive, or palpable lymph
nodes were removed. At postmortem, all intrathoracic structures
were removed and any remaining lymph nodes identified. In the
14 node stations searched, investigators were only able to identify
a median of 2 (range, 1–4) lymph nodes per hemithorax in vivo
versus a median of 6.5 (range, 2–8) lymph nodes ex vivo. The
authors concluded that localizing thoracic lymph nodes in dogs
following the human schema is challenging but warrants further
investigation. They suggested CT imaging may be a better
alternative.
n n Source
Pulmonary lymph node charting in normal dogs with blue dye and scintigraphic lymphatic mapping. Tuohy JL, Worley DR. RES VET SCI 97:148155, 2014.
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December 2014 • Clinician’s Brief 33