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We all know that a positive titer means that a dog has sufficient antibodies to protect against a disease, but now I am hearing that a negative test may not mean that the dog is not protected. This is what I just read:
"But what if the titer is negative? Well, it doesn't really mean anything! Titers can only measure circulating antibodies, which only tend to hang around if your dog has been exposed to the virus. Immune memory uses a different part of the immune system that titers can't detect. So while positive titers probably mean protection ... negative titers don't mean much. Unless they're done about 3 weeks after vaccination, when the antibodies will still be high."
I don't know enough about the immune system to know what to think about this. Anybody?
"But what if the titer is negative? Well, it doesn't really mean anything! Titers can only measure circulating antibodies, which only tend to hang around if your dog has been exposed to the virus. Immune memory uses a different part of the immune system that titers can't detect. So while positive titers probably mean protection ... negative titers don't mean much. Unless they're done about 3 weeks after vaccination, when the antibodies will still be high."
I don't know enough about the immune system to know what to think about this. Anybody?