Thoughts Behind Vaccines and Your Immune Response

So how’s your immune system?

I recently took mine for a ride with a case of old fashioned influenza. It’s been a number of years since I was sick but the experience was still familiar. The best part is now having some of that natural immunity to this year’s flu and maybe even some protection from variations of the virus.

While this may sound cockeyed to some, I enjoy cultivating a robust immune system that can take infections in stride. Western medicine however, offers an alternative approach to supporting immunity, albeit, a controversial one.

Vaccine Basics

Vaccines, like any form of medical treatment, work well for some people in some situations and less so in others. And yes, vaccines, like any other form of medication, demonstrate side effects in some individuals.

Vaccines are an imperfect solution in an imperfect world. They help reduce the incidence of certain disease processes, as do improved sanitation and cleaner living conditions. So the usefulness of vaccines varies by situation.

This year’s disease panic (you might notice there is one about this time each year now.) is measles. Measles is a highly contagious disease with relatively mild symptoms. Most individuals with an intact immune system can weather the symptoms. Those with weakened immune symptoms (think: very young person, very old person, or sick person) are at risk from this or any disease.

For this year’s panic, the measles were introduced by people from outside the United States and were easily spread among closely grouped communities. As with any infection, some susceptible individuals have required acute care but the majority weather the course of the disease and return to health all on their own. A healthy immune system is an amazing thing.

The Immunization Argument

The national debate ignores important information – on both sides of the argument. Here are a few:

• Vaccines are not 100% effective
• Vaccines do not work all of the time and sometimes need repeated doses to be effective
• Like any drug, vaccines create lots of different side effects in lots of different people
• There is no such thing as a good or bad vaccine
• Surviving the disease provides natural immunity that vaccines cannot create
• Though studied, there is still no solid evidence of vaccines causing diseases (i.e. Autism). Sorry, the evidence is not there yet.
• Preservatives used in vaccines are still being studied but no smoking gun has been found yet
• Vaccines are not designed to treat active infections, though they are sometimes administered that way

All of this information points out the imprecision and flexibility of Science. The case is always open. There is always new information coming in about how a treatment works or doesn’t.

For the record, I hold the question of vaccination, as with the use of any drug, to be a personal one, accepting all of the consequences connected to your choice.

When listening to the debate over vaccination, keep an open mind and take everything you hear with a grain of salt. There is a lot of money and a number of civil liberties that are at stake, so the arguments get pretty loud. There is also a lot of information to take in and understand in order to make an informed decision. Learn all you can and decide for yourself.

The best sign of good health is a whole lot of birthdays.

-Ruth Buzzi