Vaccine products are available in two basic forms: ready-to-use, multi-dose vials (also known as "tanks"), and single-dose vials. In the case of rabies vaccines (which are non-infectious, inactivated, or killed products), administration of an expired product will not be legally valid. The longer a vaccine product is used past its expiration date, the less we can be sure about the vitality of the living organisms in the product and their ability to induce a robust immune response in an animal. Careful attention must be paid to the expiration date printed on vaccine products to ensure that they remain effective. Unfortunately, expired vaccine products are not included on this list. Shelters are often the recipients of donations of short-dated or expired products - many of which can be safely used in the shelter environment. The vaccines should be administered, or the ice packs replaced, within 1 hour. Unless they are being prepared for immediate administration, any time vaccine products are removed from the refrigerator they must be placed in a cooler with ice packs. Or, in an attempt to improve workflow efficiency, many shelters and spay-neuter clinics will prepare vaccines at the beginning of the day and set them on a cage top, carry vaccine products in vehicles, and store them on counter-tops in the intake wards.Īll of these practices jeopardize the vaccine product's effectiveness and place the shelter or clinic at risk for a disease outbreak. Many shelters may find the need to transport vaccines from their storage refrigerator to another location for administration. A system for recording the temperature of the refrigerator at different time points throughout the day will help keep track of fluctuations and allow refrigerator settings to be adjusted to maintain a temperature within the desired range. Temperature monitoring is especially critical in warm environments and busy shelters when the refrigerator is constantly opened and closed to access the vaccine products. Temperatures higher or lower than this range can result in the death of the living vaccine organisms, leaving the product ineffective.Ī refrigerator thermometer should be placed in each location where vaccines are stored to ensure the appropriate temperatures are being maintained. Once unloaded, vaccines should be stored in a refrigerator maintained at 35-45☏ (2-7☌). The distributor should be contacted immediately and, in most cases, will send a replacement shipment at no cost to the shelter. If any of these things are not in place, the vaccines may be compromised and should not be used. When a vaccine shipment arrives at the shelter, it should be unloaded as soon as possible (i.e., within 1 hour) and inspected to be sure the shipping container is intact, the product packaging is sealed and the ice packs are cold. As such, they are extremely sensitive to both extreme temperatures and fluctuations in temperature. Most of the vaccine products used in animal shelters and veterinary hospitals are made up of living, infectious organisms (see Table 1 for Types of Infectious Vaccines). As long as a few simple rules are followed, vaccination can be the life-saving tool it was designed to be. The bad news is that vaccines are sometimes less effective than they can be simply because they're not stored, transported, or handled properly. The good news is there is a vaccine for canine distemper virus and many other serious diseases that impact animal shelters on a daily basis. You might be thinking, with all the advances in medical care and technology in today's world, how can a disease that has been around for over a century still result in such a devastating loss of life? Isn't there a vaccine for that? Unfortunately, this is an all too common scenario. Such an event is devastating to any community, its sheltering organizations, and pet owners. Then dogs started dying.Īfter months of trying to control the outbreak, hundreds of lives were lost and every dog in the shelter was euthanized in a final attempt to control this devastating disease. It wasn't long before the infections became more severe and widespread - even affecting pet dogs in the community. In the summer of 2007, a mid-sized, open admission animal shelter in a suburban town started noticing an increase in canine respiratory infections.
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