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Willow 01:26 PM 07-24-2012
Originally Posted by Meyou:
Great article!

I agree, Blackcat. As a former vaccinating parent that now chooses to not vaccinate at all it IS easy to find research to support either argument. You have to be very careful what you're reading and where you're reading it. You're much better off looking for real studies and scientific sources.

That's why I'm interested in Willow's links. I can never have too much info. Who knows? I might change my mind again.
Not looking to change anyone's mind, just putting out there how I've come to the conclusions I have

I do agree that anyone can find information in support of their argument, and even if it's credible information it could be considered completely obsolete or inconsequential to someone else.

Here's the very basics to me:

How the immune system is formed:
http://medicalcenter.osu.edu/patient...ges/index.aspx


How vaccines work in laymen's terms:

http://www.biologyreference.com/Ta-Va/Vaccines.html


This one's tough to get through but if you speak microbiology at all:
http://cvi.asm.org/content/17/7/1055.full

The conclusion there is:

"This review has shown that after the administration of nearly all vaccines, with the exceptions of BCG and zoster, prevention of infection correlates with the induction of specific antibodies. However, the situation is far from simple: antibodies must be present at the site of replication on the mucosae or in specific organs and must have sufficient breadth to affect heterologous serotypes, if they exist. Moreover, CD4+ responses, key to B-cell help and cytokine production, are sometimes better correlates of protection than antibody titers. Although I have sought to identify single correlates, for many of the vaccines considered above, multiple immune responses interact to protect. B-cell memory is crucial to prolonged protection after vaccination and is dependent on the magnitude of the innate immune response that enhances adaptive cellular responses (21). Nevertheless, the generalization holds that antibodies prevent infection whereas cellular responses control infection once replication has been established."

If you're only interested in the conclusion the bolded in particular to me translates to.....

Unvaccinated kiddo - goes to the grocery store and is exposed to a bitty cold virus. Kid gets sick. Kid's immune system fights off virus eventually.....on the flip side of that kid goes to the grocery store and picks up rotovirus. Kid gets sick. Kid's immune system fights off virus eventually. Repeat, repeat, repeat, repeat....etc. The body has no road map to fight off either and the B-cells have never been challenged in a way that enhances their ability to more effectively fight off even minor illnesses.

Vaccinated kiddo - goes to the grocery store and is exposed to a bitty cold virus. Kid doesn't get sick at all because his immune system is like a fortress. It's been introduced to and challenged by some pretty severe illnesses. His cellular response to infection is enhanced because his B-cell memory has been enhanced by the introduction of those much more ominous illnesses. The more ominous the illness, the more enhanced the B-cells tend to be....on the flip side of that kid goes to the grocery store and picks up rotovirus. Kid again doesn't get sick at all because his T-cell memory already has the roadmap to fight it off incredibly efficiently. He'll never contract it again no matter how much he's exposed to it.


For information on what memory cells are, how they impact our health and vaccination's affect on them. This offers a great explanation:

http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-a-memory-cell.htm




I went nuts over this stuff before my kids were born and subsequently in review of if I should buck having my dogs vaccinated per licensing requirements or just titered because one had some pretty severe vaccine reactions as a pup.

I love talking about it because to me it's fascinating stuff.

I do think it's relevant to the thread as the OP was having a tough time deciding how she felt about the issue and what to do. The more information she has the better she'll feel about whatever decision she makes.
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