Following occurrences of major adverse reactions in dogs who received the vaccine containing four strains of Leptospira bacteria, the VMD is aware of media reports and worries expressed on social media.
Adverse event reports are sent to the VMD by veterinarians, pet owners, and marketing authorization holders (MAH).
In order to guarantee that the advantages of any UK-licensed veterinary medicine product outweigh the risk posed by its potential side effects, we would like to reassure veterinarians and, via them, dog owners, that we are regularly evaluating adverse event report data.
Several vaccinations with either two (L2) or four (L4) Leptospira strains are approved for use in the UK.
The incidence of negative animal reactions for all L2 vaccine products combined is 0.017 percent; for L4 vaccine products, this number is 0.055 percent based on the most recent periodic safety update report data received for each product.
In other words, for every 10,000 doses sold, the VMD has only recorded less than 2 adverse responses for L2 and less than 6 for L4.
Every suspected adverse event that has been documented falls under this category, even those that were first deemed unclassifiable or later revealed to be unrelated to the vaccine.
In general, it is thought that both L2 and L4 vaccination products rarely cause suspected adverse effects.