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Patton Veterinary Hospital Using Updated Lyme Vaccine

Protect Your Dog with the New Vanguard crLyme Vaccine


Patton Veterinary Hospital is excited to announce that we have started using an updated version of our current Lyme vaccine manufactured by Zoetis.  I would like to explain a little bit about the protection the Vanguard crLyme vaccine provides.

Some background: Lyme disease is caused by bacteria or spirochete known as Borrelia burgdorferi and is spread by tick bites.  Lyme disease can cause sore, swollen joints, limping, and fever in dogs.  For some dogs, more serious complications such as kidney failure can occur.  Lyme bacteria produce proteins called outer surface proteins.  There are two important outer surface proteins (Osps) in terms of creating a vaccine:   OspA which is thought to allow the bacteria to colonize the gut of the tick and OspC which is thought to aid transmission of the bacteria into the dog.  Different strains of Lyme bacteria can produce up to eleven different OspC proteins.  These different protein variants may help the bacteria adapt inside the dog and to “hide” or evade detection by the host’s immune system.

Our previous Lyme vaccine contained one OspC protein and the OspA protein.  This provided good protection, but the new vaccine has been updated to be even more effective.  New technology has allowed for a superior vaccine to be created which contains antigenic material from seven of the OspC proteins combined into one protein strand.  This is thought to provide better coverage against different strains of Lyme bacteria which may each produce different variations of the OspC protein.  In short, targeting OspA with the vaccine works to kill the Lyme bacteria within the tick.  Targeting OspC works to kill the Borrelia bacteria if they should enter the host, even if the bacteria are expressing different types of OspC proteins. 

The incidence of Lyme disease in our area is very high:  approximately one in ten dogs tests positive for Lyme disease in York County.  Please consider protecting your dog against Lyme disease with the Vanguard crLyme vaccine.  A series of two vaccinations two to four weeks apart are necessary for proper protection, even if your dog has been previously vaccinated against Lyme disease.  The vaccine is then given annually.  Contact us with any questions or to schedule an appointment to protect your dog against Lyme disease. 

This blog brought to you by the Patton Veterinary Hospital serving Red Lion, York and the surrounding communities.

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