Good vaccination practice: it all starts with a good vaccine storage temperature

Abstract

BackgroundRecent introduction of strategies to reduce antibiotic use in food animal production implies an increased use of vaccines in order to prevent the economic impact of several important diseases in swine. Good Vaccination Practice (GVP) is an overall approach on the swine farm aiming to obtain maximal efficacy of vaccination through good storage, preparation and finally correct application to the target animals. In order to have a better insight into GVP on swine farms and the vaccine storage conditions, a survey on vaccination practices was performed on a farmers’ fair and temperatures in the vaccine storage refrigerators were measured during farm visits over a period of 1 year.ResultsThe survey revealed that knowledge on GVP, such as vaccine storage and handling, needle management and injection location could be improved. Less than 10% had a thermometer in their vaccine storage refrigerator on the moment of the visit. Temperature measurement revealed that only 71% of the measured refrigerators were in line with the recommended temperature range of +2 °C to +8 °C. Both below +2 °C and above +8 °C temperatures were registered during all seasons of the year. Compliance was lower during summer with an average temperature of 9.2 °C while only 43% of the measured temperatures were within the recommended range.ConclusionsThe present study clearly showed the need for continuous education on GVP for swine veterinarians, swine farmers and their farm personnel in general and vaccine storage management in particular. In veterinary medicine, the correct storage of vaccines is crucial since both too low and too high temperatures can provoke damage to specific vaccine types. Adjuvanted killed or subunit vaccines can be damaged (e.g. structure of aluminiumhydroxide in adjuvans) by too low temperatures (below 0 °C), whereas lyophilized live vaccines are susceptible (e.g. loss of vaccine potency) to heat damage by temperatures above +8 °C. In conclusion, knowledge and awareness of GVP and vaccine storage conditions are crucial under practical field conditions in swine herds. Focus on a correct on-farm vaccine storage is part of the responsible veterinarians’ guidance in order to obtain the required vaccine efficacy.

Contaminatiegraad van vaccinatiespuiten voor varkens en beïnvloedende factoren

“…Goede vaccinatiepraktijken (GVP) omvatten de maatregelen die nodig zijn om een optimaal effect van een vaccin te bereiken. De GVP zijn van toepassing van zodra een vaccin de producent verlaat, tijdens de distributiefase, opslagfase en de fase tot het wordt toegediend aan het doeldier (Lloyd en Cheyne, 2017;Vangroenweghe, 2017). Belangrijke onderdelen van GVP zijn de bewaring van de vaccins, het voorbereidend werk voor het vaccineren, de nodige registratie, het materiaal waarmee gevaccineerd wordt, de plaats van toediening en alle factoren die verband houden met de hygiëne van de naald en de vaccinatiespuit.…”

“…Tot dusver is er weinig onderzoek verricht naar GVP in de varkensgezondheidszorg. Onderzoek heeft aangetoond dat de bewaartemperatuur van vaccins op varkensbedrijven voor verbetering vatbaar is (Lloyd en Cheyne, 2017;Vangroenweghe, 2017). Ook de hygiëne van de vaccinatiespuiten gebruikt voor intramusculaire injecties op varkensbedrijven werd nog maar weinig onderzocht.…”

“…In theorie behouden geïnactiveerde vaccins hun werking tot 24 uur na het aanprikken van de fles ( Vangroenweghe, 2017). Flessen die reeds werden aangeprikt maar niet volledig opgebruikt werden, moeten steeds in de koelkast bewaard worden (Muirhead et al, 2013).…”

Factor Influences for Diagnosis and Vaccination of Avian Infectious Bronchitis Virus (Gammacoronavirus) in Chickens

“…The supervision of vaccine handling, transportation, and storage greatly influences the efficacy and quality of vaccines. A live vaccine is sensitive to over 2-8 • C in storage temperature, so it should be continuously monitored to avoid over freezing until hardening [109][110][111]. Vaccines can spoil or lose superiority when in contact with extreme heating and intense light, leading to faster loss of strength, which greatly affects immunity development in birds (https://apps.who.int/iris/handle/10665/69387).…”

Vaccine cold chain management and cold storage technology to address the challenges of vaccination programs

“…Furthermore, this study is expected to facilitate authors, policymakers, field implementers, expedition/logistics businessmen, and technology developers (engineers) in implementing the vaccination program. It is very important because due to the need to improve the understanding level of stakeholders on vaccine management ( Osei et al, 2019 , Yakum et al, 2015 , Mohammed et al, 2021b , Bogale et al, 2019 , Thielmann et al, 2020 , Dairo et al, 2016 , Vangroenweghe, 2017 , Thielmann et al, 2019b ). Studies have shown numerous failures in vaccine management, especially in terms of temperature in storage units and standard for distribution ( Thielmann et al, 2019b , Yauba et al, 2017 ).…”