Isabel is a completely normal, American 5 year old. She has a playful imagination. As described by her teacher, she is a hurricane of excitement. A few days ago, she complained of chills and a slight cough. Now, she is running a fever. Cheerful giggling, no longer echoes through the stairwell of her home. In two days, small white spots will begin to appear on her face. Over the course of the next three days, a rash will develop on her face and spread across her skin. The rash will eventually subside. However, this is only the beginning. She will be hospitalized for encephalitis, facing a severe risk of blindness and death. This is how measles kills. Before the success of a vaccine in 1963, the measles virus had claimed the lives of countless
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Vaccines are safe. Vaccines operate by introducing a disabled form of a virus to the immune system. The virus is specifically manipulated to make viral infection impossible in healthy individuals. The immune system eventually eliminates the virus, and in doing so, the necessary biological structures are gained to thereby grant the patient immunity to the specific viral structure. This is why vaccination is also known as immunization. Although often used interchangeably, immunization is really a better term than vaccination, because it describes the resultant state of immunity rather than simply the needle bearing procedure. In fact, ‘Immune’ conveys such a positive context, that a movement known as the “anti-immuners” sounds ridiculously illogical and self-defeating. By extension, this effectively describes the synonymous campaign of “anti-vaxxers.” Vaccines function the simple premise of priming the immune system. Any opposition to immunization stems from a misunderstanding of the process’ safety. Ultimately, the country’s education system is partly responsible for this crisis. Science education failed at teaching both the scientific mechanism of vaccines, and more importantly the primacy of scientific consensus and empirical evidence. “Anti-vaxxers” continue to state that vaccines are
Vaccines are safe. Vaccines operate by introducing a disabled form of a virus to the immune system. The virus is specifically manipulated to make viral infection impossible in healthy individuals. The immune system eventually eliminates the virus, and in doing so, the necessary biological structures are gained to thereby grant the patient immunity to the specific viral structure. This is why vaccination is also known as immunization. Although often used interchangeably, immunization is really a better term than vaccination, because it describes the resultant state of immunity rather than simply the needle bearing procedure. In fact, ‘Immune’ conveys such a positive context, that a movement known as the “anti-immuners” sounds ridiculously illogical and self-defeating. By extension, this effectively describes the synonymous campaign of “anti-vaxxers.” Vaccines function the simple premise of priming the immune system. Any opposition to immunization stems from a misunderstanding of the process’ safety. Ultimately, the country’s education system is partly responsible for this crisis. Science education failed at teaching both the scientific mechanism of vaccines, and more importantly the primacy of scientific consensus and empirical evidence. “Anti-vaxxers” continue to state that vaccines are