Strangles vaccs..?

I was told by a vet that if a horse had strangles that it should not be vaccinated for strangles for two years following,as they may still be carrying the virus and the vacc could cause a potentialy fatal outbreak.Has anyone else heard that?

If he has strangles and gets the vaccine the virus could build up an immunity to the vaccine and as a result it will come back stronger.

I have heard that, we learned it in our Horse Health Management class at the UMN. I believe the worry is that it can cause purpura hemorrhagica which causes severe swelling and possible extensive skin loss (caused by pinpoint hemorrhages?) all over the head, belly, & limbs. I think its because the immune system is already sensitive the strangles bacterium and overreacts. This can be fatal. I'm pretty sure that you can get your horse's titer levels checked if you are worried about him catching strangles again. This will tell you if he still has immunity.

Equestriun - A vaccine works by stimulating the body's immune system with a weaker form of the virus or bacteria. It allows the body to know what it may have to fight against in the future. This way if the animal catches a virus that it has been vaccinated against the body already has a memory (there are actual memory cells that code for that particular disease) of what the disease is and can rid the body of it quicker. As far as I know the only way for a vaccine to cause a disease to become immune and stronger is if the body's immune system doesn't do its job and leaves some of the virus/bacteria alive which doesn't happen unless the virus/bacteria mutates quickly (like HIV) or kills the actuall immune cells (again HIV) as all virus/bacteria cells of a particular disease have th same proteins on its outer surface and this is what triggers the immune system attack.

Sorry for the book, too much info from school lately

Hmm. I was talking to the president of the military stables I'm about to board my clyde at. He said he STRONGLY recommends I don't vaccinate from Strangles. He's said he's seen sad and traumatic outbreaks after horses receiving the vaccine. He believes its because strangles has been pushed on horses too long and they no longer have an immunity to Strangles itself, but have an immunity to the vaccine. I'm not one for most vaccines for both animals and people.

True MN, but it has happened before. If the horse has strangles and is given a vaccine used for the prevention of strangles, not the treatment (in most cases)the bacterium could build up some type of resistance against the vaccine. If the S. Equi bacterium is exposed to other horses it could be more dangerous than the original.

EDIT: Also if the horse already has Strangles the immune system is already weakened by trying to fight it off so if you introduce another dose of a weakened form it could be an horrible ending.

Huh, well it doesn't make sense to me, but I'm the first to admit that I don't know everything. I'll have to talk to my prof at the you though because I find that pretty interesting and I'd like to know more about it.

Anyways, I think we can all agree that for various reasons its a bad a idea to vaccinate a horse that has had strangles recently due to various complications. You should follow your vet's advice, but I would ask if they can do a titer check too.