Alright, I’m going there. The highly controversial topic of vaccinations. As my first ever blog, I wondered what journey I’d like to begin and this just seemed like the perfect one. It is, of course, a very hot topic of late, what with the recent Measles outbreak in Arizona and all. It is also something I feel very strongly in favor of and I’d like to share that with as many people as possible. Not only are they extremely important, but the misinformation spreading about them needs to stop. The main part of the conspiracy stems from not knowing what vaccinations consist of. Therefore, people are assuming their children are being injected with living organisms or with poisonous chemicals, causing all kinds of disorders. If just a bit of information was known, this could all be better understood; and yet, the confusion continues. Hopefully I can shed just a smidge of light on the topic.
The first thing to note is that there are no living organisms involved in vaccines. In order to better understand this, you must better understand the human body and its immune system: the cells of the immune system are made to recognize any foreign organisms in our body and create an army to defend us against future infection by that organism. When these cells contact a foreign body for the first time, they make a memory of the specific “markers” on its surface. The next time that foreign body enters our system, the memory of it quickly forms an attack to destroy it before it can do any harm. Saying that, vaccines are made with pieces of a dead organism, the markers that are found on its surface, so they can be recognized by our immune system, which will subsequently memorize it and form that glorious army against it. So without ever being infected by the organism, you can develop a defense against it.
As for the second most important fact about vaccines, the chemicals with the scary names that must be poisonous, they each serve a certain purpose to create a safe and effective injection. Some of the ingredients are only present in minute amounts, such as those used to actually kill the organism, and some of them are there to preserve and protect the injection from becoming contaminated. Some of them are even normal dietary needs of the human body. Rule of thumb: just because you cannot pronounce something doesn’t mean it is automatically harmful. I can’t ever seem to pronounce “Worcestershire sauce” but I don’t think it’s poisonous. I do avoid it, since I don’t know how to cook with it but that’s beside the point.
Learning more about something you fear or distrust is always a good idea. You never know what you’ll learn or how your life will change. My teacher recently showed us a delightfully informative article about vaccines written by Time last year - How a Vaccine is Like a Banana – and Why That’s Good – and its spot on. I highly recommend you take a few minutes to read it over, as it’ll definitely be a good start to researching the topic. I'd be interested to hear what you think of the article or any information you come across. Whether you believe in vaccines or not, you must agree that learning about something you don’t understand is important. I hope you take some time to do your own research, because in the end that is the only way you can truly trust that you understand something. Now, I’m off to heed my own advice and learn more about the uses of Worcestershire sauce. Maybe it’ll be the start of a beautiful food relationship!
References
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2011). Ingredients of Vaccines - Fact Sheet. Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vac-gen/additives.htm
Kluger, J. (2015). How a Vaccine is Like a Banana - and Why That's Good. Retrieved from http://time.com/4058511/vaccine-ingredients-inserts/
The first thing to note is that there are no living organisms involved in vaccines. In order to better understand this, you must better understand the human body and its immune system: the cells of the immune system are made to recognize any foreign organisms in our body and create an army to defend us against future infection by that organism. When these cells contact a foreign body for the first time, they make a memory of the specific “markers” on its surface. The next time that foreign body enters our system, the memory of it quickly forms an attack to destroy it before it can do any harm. Saying that, vaccines are made with pieces of a dead organism, the markers that are found on its surface, so they can be recognized by our immune system, which will subsequently memorize it and form that glorious army against it. So without ever being infected by the organism, you can develop a defense against it.
As for the second most important fact about vaccines, the chemicals with the scary names that must be poisonous, they each serve a certain purpose to create a safe and effective injection. Some of the ingredients are only present in minute amounts, such as those used to actually kill the organism, and some of them are there to preserve and protect the injection from becoming contaminated. Some of them are even normal dietary needs of the human body. Rule of thumb: just because you cannot pronounce something doesn’t mean it is automatically harmful. I can’t ever seem to pronounce “Worcestershire sauce” but I don’t think it’s poisonous. I do avoid it, since I don’t know how to cook with it but that’s beside the point.
Learning more about something you fear or distrust is always a good idea. You never know what you’ll learn or how your life will change. My teacher recently showed us a delightfully informative article about vaccines written by Time last year - How a Vaccine is Like a Banana – and Why That’s Good – and its spot on. I highly recommend you take a few minutes to read it over, as it’ll definitely be a good start to researching the topic. I'd be interested to hear what you think of the article or any information you come across. Whether you believe in vaccines or not, you must agree that learning about something you don’t understand is important. I hope you take some time to do your own research, because in the end that is the only way you can truly trust that you understand something. Now, I’m off to heed my own advice and learn more about the uses of Worcestershire sauce. Maybe it’ll be the start of a beautiful food relationship!
References
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2011). Ingredients of Vaccines - Fact Sheet. Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vac-gen/additives.htm
Kluger, J. (2015). How a Vaccine is Like a Banana - and Why That's Good. Retrieved from http://time.com/4058511/vaccine-ingredients-inserts/