>>Thanks for your reply Abby! Is there anything special to look for as far as vaccine damage. Most of the cases that I have read about dogs dying from their vaccinations, it seems as though they died very soon after the shots. Is this usually the case?
There are about three different main ways that vaccines can damage.
The first is the obvious allergic reaction that happens either at the vet's office or within hours of coming home.
The other is a type of reaction, different from an allergic reaction, that directly affects the immune system, and occurs tpically within hours or days or even months. When it is hours or days, often the owner knows that these are from the vaccine, but many vets don't believe it -- outward symptoms can range from limping to digestive problems, to a number of seemingly unrelated symptoms. Some of these symptoms the dog may recover from, some may be lifelong (e.g. chronic pancreatitis, degenerative arthritis), and some may be life-ending (e.g. hemolytic anemia, vaccine induced distemper, kidney failure from the lyme vaccine, etc.)
The last type of vaccine damage is the most deceptive because it is operating at a cellular level that probably no one would recognize. For example, after a rabies shot, thyroid antibodies are increased. If these stay elevated, it may take a very long time for the dog to go hypothyroid and the vaccine would never be suspected. One statistical survey showed that some severe spinal arthritis clustered at 6 months post vaccination -- again, something the owner will never see until it's too late, and the vaccine connection probably wouldn't be questioned. It is this last type of reaction that I believe would cause the cancer connection to vaccination if there is one.
Any of these types of reactions I believe can kill. However, I think that the most deadly ones happen sooner rather than later.