The January/February 1999 issue of Ferrets Magazine, in Erika Matulich's
article on Communicable Diseases, contains the following paragraph:
 
"The distemper vaccination will generally protect your pet for up to 14
months (although it is valid for only 12 months).  Protection can be cut
short, however.  This can occur if your ferret was ill during the
vaccination; if it had other ailments at the time of the shot (such as
lymphoma, insulinoma or aderenal disease) or if it had experienced repeated
exposure to distemper and fought the disease off (each exposure lessens the
effectiveness of the vaccination).  It is important, therefore, to keep
vaccination current."
 
I don't have much background in immunology, so would someone who does
explain this to me if I've got this wrong?
 
I thought repeated exposure to the disease following vaccination would
*activate* the immune system to produce *more* antibodies against
distemper, not just use up the ones that were produced from the vaccination
at the vets.  Or is this a 'it depends' situation-as in it depends on how
much exposure they got?
 
-Ilena Ayala
[Posted in FML issue 2523]