Antibody Production as Reaction to Feline Panleukopenia Virus Vaccination in Cats with Feline Immunodeficiency Virus and Feline Leukaemia Virus Infection
M. Bergmann1; S. Schwertler1; A.L. Proksch1; S. Reese2; S. Speck3; U. Truyen3; K. Hartmann1
So far, there are a few data regarding how immunocompromised cats, such as cats infected with feline leukemia (FeLV) and immunodeficiency virus (FIV), react to vaccination. Therefore, this study's aims were to measure feline panleukopenia virus (FPV) antibodies in FIV- and FeLV-infected cats within a period of 28 days after FPV vaccination, and to compare the titre increase to that of healthy cats.
FIV- (n=5), FeLV-infected (n=5), and healthy cats (n=112) were vaccinated with a commercial FPV modified-live vaccine. Pre- and post-vaccination antibody titres were measured by haemagglutination inhibition (HI) on day 0, 7, and 28. An HI titre ≥1:40 was defined as protective. An adequate immune response to vaccination was defined as a 4-fold titre increase. Differences regarding titre increase between FIV-, FeLV-infected, and healthy cats were analysed using chi-squared test.
Protective pre-vaccination FPV antibody titres were present in 80% (8/10; 95% CI: 47.9–95.4) of retrovirus-infected cats and in 64% (72/112; 95% CI: 55.1–72.6) of healthy cats. An adequate titre increase was observed in 30% (3/10; 95% CI: 10.3–60.8) of retrovirus-infected cats and in 48% (54/112; 95% CI: 10.3–60.8) of healthy cats. There was neither a significant difference in presence of protective pre-vaccination titres (p=0.491), nor in titre increase (p=0.335), or vaccination adverse effects (p=0.597).
FIV and FeLV infections did not negatively influence efficacy and safety of MLV FPV vaccination; thus, FPV vaccination can be given to retrovirus-infected cats according to current guidelines. Further studies should be performed involving larger numbers of retrovirus-infected cats.
Disclosures
Disclosures to report
The study was funded by Merial, Lyon, France. Merial played no role in the interpretation of data, nor in the decision to submit the abstract for publication. There is no commercial conflict of interest, as the information generated here is solely for scientific dissemination. The authors declare that they have no competing interests.