I had a chance to listen in on a conference call with some amazingly motivated vaccine advocates and some of the creative talents behind the documentary, Invisible Threat. The documentary is produced by high school student filmmakers and explores the science behind vaccinations and the fears and misconceptions people have about vaccines. The Invisible Threat is so […]
Way back before the 1930’s lots of kids were dying from vaccine-related bacterial infections. That’s because kids were given their vaccines from multi-dose vials–vials intended to be used more than one time, but with different needles. It turns out that’s not a very clean way of giving vaccines. This allowed for bacteria and fungi to […]
Something that is foreign to your body and that induces an immune response or is the target of an immune response is called an antigen. Almost any foreign molecule (non-self), and sometimes molecules that are part of the body (self), can act as antigens to our immune systems. Some examples of non-self antigens include viruses, […]
The DTaP vaccine protects your child from getting tetanus (lockjaw), diphtheria, and acellular pertussis (whooping cough). All three of these are potentially life-threatening bacterial infections. Tetanus The bacteria the causes tetanus is called Clostridium tetani and is often found in the soil. In the United States, tetanus is most often transmitted through a break in […]
When our bodies become sick with a virus, bacteria, fungi, parasite, etc., our adaptive immune system, the one that “remembers” microbes, not only fights off the microbe but creates protective immunity against it. Protective immunity is the body’s ability to resist a certain disease. The body’s source of protective immunity against microbes comes from the […]