February 23, 2014 / Last updated : April 20, 2019 TheVaccineMom Beautiful Immune System

The Beautiful Immune System Lesson 1: The Two Types of Immunity: Innate and Adaptive

We classify all of the body’s immune reactions into two types of immunity: innate and adaptive. Under each category are many players and thousands of complex systems. Right now, I just want to focus on these two categories. Our body’s first line of response to an attack comes from the innate immune system (sometimes called […]

February 22, 2014 / Last updated : April 20, 2019 TheVaccineMom Children's Vaccines

Varicella (chickenpox) Vaccine

I don’t know about you, but I REMEMBER getting the chickenpox as a young child. It was itchy and awful. And oatmeal baths! Oh, the oatmeal baths!! Because this is most often a children’s disease, I thought it would be appropriate to litter this post with the some of the cute photos from one of my […]

February 17, 2014 / Last updated : April 20, 2019 TheVaccineMom Vaccine Terminology

How are vaccines made and released to the public?

A vaccine’s main goal is to teach your immune system to recognize and remember a bacteria or virus. The word “vaccination” means to stimulate the immune system to make antibodies against the bacteria or virus targeted by the vaccine. “Immunization” is different; it’s used in relation to injecting a person with pre-formed antibodies to a particular […]

February 9, 2014 / Last updated : April 20, 2019 TheVaccineMom True Stories

Pickles and the Mumps

Many years ago, parents would use the “pickle test” to determine if a child had the mumps. Since the mumps causes the salivary glands to become tender and swollen, when someone with the mumps eats or drinks something acidic, the pain becomes worse. The theory was that if you give a pickle to a child […]

February 9, 2014 / Last updated : April 20, 2019 TheVaccineMom True Stories

Several Generations of the Mumps: Cindi’s Story

Cindi grew up in the outskirts of Des Moines, Iowa. A place where she was part of the city, but just a block’s walk away from Iowa’s beautiful countryside. Her family’s story of the mumps doesn’t begin with her, but long before she was born, with her mother, Guinevere. Guinevere is soon to be 86 […]