I am a veterinarian in Europe and I am facing an unusual case.
Within the last month, I have seen two different young dogs (3 years and 4 years old) to whom I administered a tetravalent vaccine for Leptospirosis (commercialized since 2012). These are inactivated vaccines which are administered yearly.
- One of the two dogs was previously using a similar vaccine from a different brand.
- The other dog was administered the same vaccine last year.
Both dogs had no signs of disease at the time of the vaccination.
After about 2 weeks from the date of the vaccination, both dogs developed jaundice and anorexia and signs of hepatic failure in lab tests.
In subsequent ultrasound and x-rays, we observed microhepaty in both dogs, the cause of which (congenital vascular defect or chronic) is at present unknown. Given the age of the dogs, we believe that the microhepaty is congenital; in this case, it is possible that this condition is initially asymptomatic but appears as the animal ages.
Questions:
- could the signs of hepatic failure be seen as a side effect of the vaccine (compounded by the preexisting microhepaty)?
- could the brand (or the batch) of the vaccine have a role? Note the batch numbers for the two vaccines are different in one digit.
Further notes:
- we and other colleagues have been administering the same vaccines regularly with no similar findings for years
- In a short search, I did not find specific links in the literature between hepatic symptoms and vaccines
