Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Effectiveness of two vaccines against feline calicivirus infection
By Almeras, T et al.·Published in BMC veterinary research·2017·Virbac, France·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Comparative efficacy of the Leucofeligen™ FeLV/RCP and Purevax™ RCP FeLV vaccines against infection with circulating feline Calicivirus.
- Species:
- cat
Plain-English summary
A group of 9-week-old kittens was tested to see how well two different vaccines protected against feline calicivirus (FCV), which can cause painful mouth sores and other health issues. The kittens were either not vaccinated or received one of the two vaccines, and then they were exposed to a harmful strain of FCV. The results showed that both vaccines helped reduce the severity of symptoms, but the kittens vaccinated with Leucofeligen had better protection, experiencing fewer symptoms and lower levels of the virus in their bodies compared to those vaccinated with Purevax. This suggests that Leucofeligen may be the more effective option for preventing FCV in cats.
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Abstract
BACKGROUND: Feline calicivirus (FCV) is a common virus, found worldwide, mainly responsible for chronic ulceroproliferative faucitis and periodontitis. This virus has a high mutation rate, leading to the presence of numerous FCV strains in the field. The objectives of this study was to evaluate and compare the efficacy of two vaccines (Leucofeligen™ FeLV/RCP and Purevax™ RCP FeLV), which differ by their nature (live vs. inactivated) and the vaccinal strains, against circulating FCV strains. Thirty 9-week-old specific pathogen free (SPF) kittens were thus randomised into 3 groups and were either not vaccinated (control) or vaccinated (2 injections, 3 weeks apart) with one of the vaccines. Four weeks after the second injection of primary vaccination, the cats were inoculated with a pathogenic strain representative of the ones circulating in Europe (FCV-FR4_01) and followed for 2 weeks. RESULTS: After challenge, significant differences (p < 0.05) between control cats and cats vaccinated with Leucofeligen™ FeLV/RCP or Purevax™ RCP FeLV were observed for body weight variation, rectal temperature rise and maximum clinical scores, reflecting the intensity of the signs (83% and 67% lower in the respective vaccinated groups than in the control group). Significant differences were observed between the vaccinated groups, as cats vaccinated with Leucofeligen™ FeLV/RCP had a lower temperature rise (p < 0.05 at days post-challenge 3 to 5) and lower virus shedding titres (p < 0.05 at days post-challenge 8, 9 and 11) than cats vaccinated with Purevax™ RCP FeLV. Finally, only cats vaccinated with Leucofeligen™ FeLV/RCP had a significantly lower cumulative score, reflecting the intensity and duration of calicivirosis clinical signs, than the control cats (77% lower vs. 62% lower for cats vaccinated with Purevax™ RCP FeLV). CONCLUSIONS: Both vaccines, Leucofeligen™ FeLV/RCP and Purevax™ RCP FeLV, were found to be efficacious in reducing clinical signs induced by FCV-FR4_01, a FCV strain representative of the circulating ones. However, cats vaccinated with Leucofeligen™ FeLV/RCP were able to control the infection more efficiently than those vaccinated with Purevax™ RCP FeLV, as evidenced by the shorter duration of clinical signs and lower viral titre in excretions.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29017551/