In today’s day and age, vaccines have been created for diseases, such as the mumps, measles, flu, diphtheria, tetanus, and whooping cough. Especially in the United States, these developments have helped prevent a countless number of individuals from getting these diseases. However, due to some obstacles along the way, such as Andrew Wakefield’s report spreading false claims connecting autism and vaccines, some adults and children have not received their vaccines. The anti-vaxx movement has cast quite a spell on some of the population – increasing the chances for some of these diseases to make a comeback into the population. As an example, let’s take a look at one of the diseases that was just mentioned: Measles.
What Exactly is the ‘Measles’ Vaccine?
As discussed in class, a vaccine known as the MMRV vaccine can be administered and provide some sort of protection against MEASLES, mumps, rubella, and varicella. In this vaccine, there are attenuated strains of measles that are incorporated. Moreover, its attenuated form is the version of the virus that is weak. Here, it is able to generate a strong cell-mediated immune response. Since attenuated vaccines are able to protect the individual for a longer time than that of inactivated vaccines, no more than two doses are usually required for these types of vaccines. Specifically, the immune system of the vaccinated individual is introduced to an overwhelming level of this particular antigen for an extended amount of time.
The Power of the Measles Vaccine
According to an article from CNN, it was reported that having measles is a precursor to having additional health issues. These health problems include meningitis, pneumonia, and hepatitis. Moreover, individuals who are older than 20 years of age or younger than 5 years of age are more likely to develop these afflictions. Those that had these problems were reported to have zero or only one out of the two doses of vaccines as a child. Think about it – on top of the cough, rash, and fever linked with the disease, people who have measles have a higher risk of getting even more ill. In addition, it was reported that almost 1,300 individuals were diagnosed with the measles in the United States in 2019. To add to that, almost 150,000 deaths resulted from individuals getting the measles in the world – last year alone!
As someone who is currently learning about these diseases, it makes sense to me that other afflictions would arise because the individual is now immunosuppressed. Immunosuppression is the decrease in ability of the immune system to protect an individual from diseases and infections. In addition, it is a shock to me that the number of individuals who died from measles was approximately 150,000. Especially for a disease that has a known vaccine that can help prevent it, we need to be taking more actions in order to protect the people in the world from getting infected.
In addition, according to an article from The New York Times, the rubeola virus, which causes measles, can attack and damage cells. Specifically, these cells produce the necessary antibodies that the human body needs to protect itself from illnesses, such as influenza. In a way, this virus takes away the ability of the immune system to remember what diseases the individual has already encountered. It will take some time before the immune system can regain its ability to make the antibodies needed to defend the body against pathogens. Therefore, this increases the risk that the individual has to getting the same illnesses more than once.
I thought I was already convinced once I learned that measles could lead to further health problems. Specifically, I thought there could not be any more additional information that could further highlight the advantages of getting vaccinated, especially with the measles vaccine. Now, learning that there is a greater risk involved with getting past diseases if you get the measles has convinced me even more than I thought would be possible! Measles affects the immune system in a way that seems to completely wipe out its memory and somewhat its functionality after the infection. This is a lot to put your body through. Why wouldn’t you want to keep these adversities from happening knowing that one or two doses of a vaccine can do the trick?
It Takes Two
The events that have transpired over the past few months regarding measles only show that the existence of vaccinations is only one part of the equation. Moreover, it is how we decide to use these vaccinations that determine our state of health for ourselves, as well as for other people in the world. If we decide to not get vaccinated, then we increase the risk of getting diseases that these vaccinations protect us from. That is why we need to take advantage of these vaccinations available to us. It takes two to accomplish this feat – vaccinations and our own will. If you have not been vaccinated for any of these diseases, what are you doing sitting here and reading this blog post? Go get your vaccine today!
Melanie Nguyen's Microbiology Blog 