It was observed through seroconversion for specific IgG antibodies to the bacteria Streptococcus uberis, Streptococcus agalactiae, Streptococcus dysgalactiae, Staphylococcus chromogenes, Corynebacterium bovis and Escherichia coli, individually, that the vaccinated cows showed an immunological response due to the autogenous vaccine against mastitis (Fig. 1). A similar result was found by Pieres et al. (2017), in which animals vaccinated with a polyvalent commercial vaccine showed a higher concentration of specific antibodies compared to unvaccinated animals. Furthermore, with revaccination (booster dose) antibodies are produced quickly and in greater quantities, in addition to remaining longer and the phagocytic activity of neutrophils appears to increase, triggering a more efficient elimination of the infection (Moyuddin et al., 2020; Piepers et al., 2017).
It is known that subclinical mastitis can progress to clinical mastitis (Santos and Laranja, 2019). Since the use of the autogenous mastitis vaccine promoted a reduction in the average individual SCC of the Vaccinated group in relation to the Control group (Fig. 2), the autogenous vaccination may be beneficial in preventing severe cases of subclinical mastitis, especially for chronic cases, although no reduction in clinical mastitis cases was detected in the present study (Fig. 4).
Autogenous vaccination against mastitis contributed positively to the subclinical mastitis dynamics throughout the experimental period. It was observed an increase in the number of healthy and cured cows and a reduction in the number of new infections and chronic cows (Fig. 3), and the last condition was the most significant effect among the four evaluated. Animals with chronic infections are those that have persistent subclinical infection. Consequently, these cows have a reduction in milk production and become sources of contamination for healthy cows, and are animals with more chance of culling. These factors influences directly the profitability of dairy farms, and so the use of autogenous vaccines may be an alternative to improve the health of the mammary glands of lactating cows.
The monthly clinical mastitis rate was similar among groups throughout the evaluated period (Fig. 4). This result can be explained by the fact that only one third of the herd was vaccinated. The other thirds were the Control group and the remaining cows of the herd that was not included in the trial. These animals shared the same housing and milking environments and they probably contributed to increase the infection pressure for the Vaccinated group, which resulted in a similar incidence of clinical mastitis among groups, despite the reduction in cases of subclinical mastitis.
Schukken et al. (2014) found positive results in vaccinated animals, using vaccines against Staphylococcus aureus and coagulase-negative Staphylococcus. They observed a higher cure rate, lower transmission rate, significant decrease in the prevalence of S. aureus and a tendency of a lower rate of new infections in the vaccinated group. In relation to coagulase-negative Staphylococcus, there was no difference in cases of new infections comparing the vaccinated and control groups. Furthermore, the authors observed that the efficacy of the vaccine depended of parity, which primiparous cows showed better results compared to third-lactation cows. In the present study, this analysis was not performed because the cows were selected for the trial according to similar characteristics (Table 2).
Kurtyak et al. (2021) analyzed a dairy herd of 600 cows and found positive and significant results of an autogenous vaccine against mastitis. The average clinical mastitis rate on the dairy herd was 12% and 25% for subclinical mastitis in the last three years before vaccination. After the application of the autogenous vaccine, these numbers decreased to 2% and 5%, respectively, which corresponds to a six-fold decrease in clinical mastitis cases and a five-fold decrease in subclinical mastitis cases. Furthermore, the authors observed a significant improvement in milk quality. Before vaccination, the number of cows with high SCC was 48% and after vaccination this number reduced to 2.6%. The authors concluded that the autogenous vaccine had satisfactory performance not only in mammary gland health, but also in milk quality and herd profitability. Corroborating these results, Mohyuddin, et al. (2020), also show that autogenous bacterial vaccines can be an excellent alternative to the use of antibiotics in preventing mastitis in dairy farms.
Several studies evaluated the different types of mastitis vaccines available in veterinary market, as well as their effectiveness in preventing and controlling this disease. In a review by Rainard et al. (2021) it was shown a variety of results. Mastitis has a multifactorial etiology, the agents are not static, which increases the difficult to cure and prevent this disease by using commercial vaccines. Based on this fact, autogenous vaccines can be an efficient alternative, since it contains an antigenic fraction from the microorganisms that circulates in a determined herd (Moyuddin et al., 2020). However, it is important to highlight that the use of the autogenous vaccine against mastitis should be used as an additional tool for controlling the disease, associated with management measures to minimize mastitis transmission and keep the immune system of the cows working correctly. These management measures include an adequate milking routine, treatment of sick animals, segregation and/or culling of chronic infected animals, balanced nutrition, maintenance of animal comfort and well-being conditions, among others.
In conclusion, autogenous vaccination against mastitis stimulates the cows' immune system to produce specific antibodies against the agents present in the vaccine. It also reduces the average individual SCC, and based in the dynamics of subclinical mastitis, increases the number of cows in healthy and cured conditions and reduces the number of cows in conditions of new and chronic infections in relation to the Control group in a crossbred dairy herd.