Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Oral electron-beam inactivated Rhodococcus equi did not protect foals
By Rocha, Joana N et al.·Published in PloS one·2016·Department of Large Animal Clinical Sciences, United States·View original on PubMed →
PetCaseFinder translated the abstract of this peer-reviewed paper into plain English so pet owners can read it. We do not publish original research — every detail traces back to the citation above. How we work →
Original publication title: Oral Administration of Electron-Beam Inactivated Rhodococcus equi Failed to Protect Foals against Intrabronchial Infection with Live, Virulent R. equi.
- Species:
- horse
Plain-English summary
A group of foals was given a vaccine made from inactivated Rhodococcus equi bacteria to see if it would protect them from developing pneumonia after being exposed to live bacteria. Unfortunately, most of the vaccinated foals (7 out of 8) still developed pneumonia, similar to the unvaccinated foals (3 out of 4). This suggests that the vaccine did not provide the expected protection. Researchers believe that different dosing or administration methods may need to be explored to find a more effective way to protect foals from this serious infection.
People also search for: foal pneumonia prevention · Rhodococcus equi vaccine for foals · how to protect foals from pneumonia
Abstract
There is currently no licensed vaccine that protects foals against Rhodococcus equi-induced pneumonia. Oral administration of live, virulent R. equi to neonatal foals has been demonstrated to protect against subsequent intrabronchial challenge with virulent R. equi. Electron beam (eBeam)-inactivated R. equi are structurally intact and have been demonstrated to be immunogenic when administered orally to neonatal foals. Thus, we investigated whether eBeam inactivated R. equi could protect foals against developing pneumonia after experimental infection with live, virulent R. equi. Foals (n = 8) were vaccinated by gavaging with eBeam-inactivated R. equi at ages 2, 7, and 14 days, or gavaged with equal volume of saline solution (n = 4), and subsequently infected intrabronchially with live, virulent R. equi at age 21 days. The proportion of vaccinated foals that developed pneumonia following challenge was similar among the vaccinated (7/8; 88%) and unvaccinated foals (3/4; 75%). This vaccination regimen did not appear to be strongly immunogenic in foals. Alternative dosing regimens or routes of administration need further investigation and may prove to be immunogenic and protective.
Find similar cases for your pet
PetCaseFinder finds other peer-reviewed reports of pets with the same symptoms, plus a plain-English summary of what was tried across them.
Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26828865/