Sunday, September 16, 2007

DHLPPCv

Most puppies will get a combination vaccine, called a MULTIVALENT vaccine, which protects against more than one disease. This combination vaccine allows the puppy to be vaccinated via a single injection rather than having to receive four or five separate inoculations.

Multivalent vaccines are those that have more than one
disease antigen combined into one injection.

A typical multivalent vaccine is the DHLPPCv vaccine for dogs. Instead of giving six different injections, all these "vaccines" or antigens can be given in a single small volume injection. Certainly this is easier on the dog than getting six separate injections.

DHLPPCv stands for:

D... Canine Distemper Virus... a dangerous viral infection. "Distemper" is an odd name for a viral infection and this disease has no relationship to nor connection with a dog's temperament.
H... Hepatitis...a viral infection caused by two related viruses that mainly affects the liver.
L... Leptospirosis... a bacterial infection affecting the kidneys. This class of bacteria can infect humans, cows, dogs, pigs and other mammals.
P... Parainfluenza... a virus that along with the Hepatitis virus can cause upper respiratory infections.
P... Parvovirus... a severe and often fatal virus affecting the lining of the intestinal tract.
Cv... Coronavirus... is very similar to the Parvovirus, can be very severe, but has a somewhat different effect on the intestinal tract and generally is not fatal.

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