Parvovirus questions

[dragondawg]

My son recently got an 8 week old German Shephard puppy.
He actually got him on last Saturday and the puppy was throwing up but he thought it was because he was car sick. Since then he'd eat but something vomit after a couple of hours. Today he went to the vet and has been diagnosed with Parvovirus. He had received a parvo shot at 6 weeks old. Someone mentioned that sometimes the parvo shot can actually cause parvo. Has anyone ever heard that? I can't find any information saying that.
Right now he's been admitted to the vet clinic and we're hopping he'll recover, poor baby.
I'm thankful that we haven't met the puppy so my dogs haven't been exposed even though they are up to date on their shots. Does anyone know how long my sone's yard and home will a danger to my dogs and how long we will have to avoid visiting there without the dogs?
Thanks very much

Parvo vaccinations do not cause Parvo, unless the immune system is seriously compromised already. The Parvo vaccines are modified live virus. The dead vaccines have very little efficacy, especially in puppies.

The reason there is this mistaken believe that the Parvo vaccination can cause disease is illustrated in your puppy's case. He received his first shot at 6 weeks, and 2 weeks later it has Parvo. It's easy to jump conclusions.

The problem with Parvo vaccinations is that only upwards to 25% of puppies have lost the protective maternal antibodies they absorbed through the colostrum and milk. What happens when you give the live vaccine still protected by maternal antibodies? The maternal antibodies inactivate or kill the virus before the puppy's immune system can create an immune response or antibodies of its own. The result is that the vaccination does not take. In your case the puppy was subsequently exposed to Parvo in the intervening 2 weeks, the maternal antibodies had disappeared or were too low, and the puppy had no antibodies of its own.

The maternal antibody problem is why puppies are given multiple vaccinations against Parvo. As the puppies age they are more likely to have lost the maternal antibodies at the time of the next vaccination. There are cases where the maternal antibodies persist long enough to interfer with the entire puppy shot schedule of 6-9-12 weeks. That's why it's recommended to get the 1 yr booster. In your case you didn't get to that point.

Parvo infection or successful Parvo immunization is thought to last for a life time. Although most Vets, including my own are still recommending revaccination every 3 yrs. If an adult dog even one previously not immunized gets Parvo it's usually mild and sometimes not even evident. The virus does better in the faster dividing intestinal cells of a puppy. The other factor for older dogs is that the virus is readily carried by adults, and is endemic to dog populations. Thus there is constant exposure and immune response to the virus in the environment. In your case, there was more danger of your adult dogs infecting the puppy instead of the other way around. As Catlady suggests, that's why its important to limit a puppy's introduction to adult dogs until its shots are complete.

Your quick response in getting the puppy to the Vet should help give a favorable outcome.