Thanks Dave. it's a pretty sad thing for a parent to say, but I wasn't aware that there was a booster or even whether I had never been vaccinated for Hooping Cough. It's a good thing my kids are past the danger period.
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Good move Incisor. We did the same when our first grandchild arrived, both to protect him and also us because working at a school means we are constantly exposed to sick kids bringing in their diseases to share about. It is a major workplace hazard because some parents don't act responsibly.
I had chicken pox when I was 12. That was not fun. Got it at school. Schools are dangerous places.
I've decided I'm going to get the tetanus booster which also covers diphtheria and pertussis just for further protection.
it will be interesting to see in 100 years time if we're still using vaccines.
vaccines are taking the evolution out of humans. not sure if this is a good thing or not.
Removing Epidemics is not detrimental to human evolution because most of the epidemics suffered by humans have been the result of human activity. Mostly in the management if their wider but more importantly, their immediate environment.
The benefits to humanity usually come from Social, Environmental and Scientific changes and advancements.
However there is one disease I know of that is the result of a mass human culling and that is a disease which causes it's sufferers accumulate an excess if Iron. The disease is known as Irish disease and it gets its name via the fact that the Irish and Irish descendants represent a disproportionately high number of sufferers. This is of course a direct result of "The Famine". People who accumulate Iron are less likely to die if an Iron deficiency resulting from Malnutrition..
i'm thinking slightly along different lines.
vaccines are good in our lifetime.
but are they good for humans over 5-10 generations?
overpopulation will become a problem
the weak who should of died, dont and possibly breed.
vaccines are best practice but we dont know everything about the human body.
speaking of which, im late for this years flu shot.
I think it'll move in the direction of gene based therapy- either preventing the binding site of the pertussus toxin on the respiratory cells, or acting on the metabolism pathways to asssint in breaking it down.
This is the way of the future- traditional vaccination builds your own immunity, but mutations in the pathogen may mean that the pathogenesis can be bypassed. Example: Yearly flu vaccinations to attempt to cover the latest and greatest strain of influenza (and all the different variations of the hemaglutinin / neuraminidase protein structures that comprise it). Vaccination will always be one step behind the virus in this case, however you can prevent it from working if there is a common biochemical pathway that the virus uses to effect its symptoms.
Before anyone gets triggered, I'm not an anti-vaxxer, but know enough to understand that there is a better way.
Video related:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jAhjPd4uNFY