After recovering from a cold or other infection, your body’s immune system is primed to react quickly if the same agent tries to infect you. White blood cells called memory T cells specifically remember the virus or bacterium and patrol the body looking for it. Vaccines work on the same principle: Harmless fragments of a […]
Deadly diseases are making a comeback. Pertussis, or whooping cough, has killed nine infants this year in California, and outbreaks of measles and Hib meningitis have struck U.S. communities in the past three years. At the heart of all these outbreaks: Parents who have chosen not to vaccinate their children.
“Whooping cough, diphtheria and diseases that some of us don’t even recognize anymore are not gone forever. They are widespread in developing countries and do also arise here in the US,” said Palacios. “It is important that vaccine-preventable diseases are kept under control no matter where they crop up, whether it be in Texas or […]
Public immunization efforts may be much more sensitive than previously realized to small changes in the perceived costs or risks of vaccination, scientists at Harvard University report this week. In some cases, the spread of vaccine avoidance via social networks can make the difference between a minor, localized outbreak, and an epidemic four times as […]
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