PREVENTION

There are some minor risks to vaccination of any type, especially with a MLV, but these risks are minor, and definitely not justification for not vaccinating.  Adverse reactions to the CDV vaccine are usually in the form of encephalitis, though the systemic symptoms of the disease can occur in immunosuppressed patients, or in those infected prenatally (through vaccination of the bitch).  These vaccine-induced signs, unlike natural infection, may stabilize, improve, or disappear with time, supportive therapy, or anti-inflammatory therapy.  (2)

Other possible reactions include hypertrophic osteodystrophy and juvenile cellulitis, which can develop from 4 days to 3 weeks post vaccination.  This reaction is by far most common in Weimaraners, and as such it is recommended that animals of this breed be vaccinated with recombinant, rather than MLV vaccines until skeletal growth is complete.  (13, 2)

As CDV is antigenically related to the human measles virus, and vaccinations with a canine approved measles vaccine will provide short lived protection against CDV.  In this case, maternal antibodies do not significantly interfere with the vaccine efficacy and thus these vaccines may be more effective in young animals.  Theory suggests that if the first vaccination of the above described protocol is replaced with a canine approved measles vaccine, then young animals may be better protected against CDV.  (2)