About Vaccines

             I have my opinions on vaccines and you have yours. It is not the intent of this blog to ever tell you what to think. This blog hopes to present you with raw verifiable facts which are consistent with objective reality. The intent is to help you to think for yourself, rationally and critically, and, hopefully, in the context of this blog, that you allow yourself to be led by the Holy Spirit.

Do not base your opinions solely on what I say. Do not base your opinions solely on what anyone else says. Do not base your opinions solely on what any religious tradition says. Listen to all of them, but use your own mind, and read your Bible. Be like the Bereans (Acts 17:11), even on totally secular matters. Like they used to say about the Marvel Cinematic Universe: “It’s all connected.”

The discussion about vaccines in the United States has devolved into people taking sides based on their political leanings and has come to involve multiple issues: progressivism, conservatism, autism, Christian nationalism, distrust of government, distrust of the giant pharmaceutical companies, distrust of science in general, rejection of organized religion, some elements of bigotry, possible adverse side effects of vaccines, issues of vaccine effectiveness, the ethics of mandates, libertarianism, epidemiological community health concerns, availability of health resources, possible vaccine effects on autoimmune diseases, religious and/or ethical objections, exactly who will benefit most from a vaccine and whom they might harm, preventing pandemics, possible medically adverse ingredients in vaccines, ethical concerns over some methods of vaccine preparation, the concern of some that over-exposure to vaccines early in life might overwhelm the immune system, natural immunity vs vaccine immunity, live vs dead viral components in vaccines, issues of informed consent, racial differences in disease susceptibility. Did I leave any out?

Vaccines are biological preparations designed to stimulate the recipient’s immune system causing it to produce proteins called antibodies against a particular microorganism. The antibodies are, in effect, weapons produced by the body to protect itself against invaders.

Some vaccines are built from proteins or other parts of the organism being targeted. Other vaccines use the entire organism in either a dead or greatly weakened form. All are intended to cause the body to violently say “This is not me!” and to learn how to attack this particular “Not Me.”

The idea is that, if an exposure to this particular “Not Me” later occurs, the body will remember the prior attack and will jump into action to produce massive quantities of the weapons it needs.

This blog post is about the Coronavirus vaccine for COVID-19. New vaccines are needed each year because coronaviruses are RNA (ribonucleic acid) viruses and mutate more quickly than DNA (deoxy-ribonucleic acid) viruses. Most of the mutations carry no consequences for the human host but a few give the virus significant advantages in ease of transmission or in severity of the disease. This occurs as errors in copying the virus’ genetic information cause changes in the organism’s surface proteins. These changes result in the surface proteins being different enough from prior versions that the body’s immune system thinks that they are a “Not Me” that it has not seen before.

Because of this, the immune system essentially has to start over and, so, cannot make a quick kill. This means that there is no pre-existing immunity to the new variant even though it is still the same virus.

Vaccines have to be developed each year because of that year’s new variants, which usually arise in Asia or India and then spread worldwide. The vaccines which are developed are actually guesses or assumptions that the virus variants which arrive in the West will still be the same ones for which the vaccine was developed. This can account for why some of the vaccines are more effective than others. 

_________________________________________________________________________________

            An aside: This process of the body's immune system attacking "Not Me" is what is involved in tissue rejection after organ transplants and also comes into play during pregnancy because the mother is "Me" and the child is "Not Me."

Follow the Science

        

        We have been told repeatedly to "follow the science," usually in connection to COVID-19 

immunization. That is good advice and my wife and I are fully vaccinated for COVID-19 and other 

viruses.

        To be fully consistent, there is another situation where I would hope that everyone would consider

following the science. 

        The human female produces ova (eggs) which her body recognizes as "me." Except in rare cases of

 autoimmune disease, the woman's body leaves the ovaries and the eggs alone. In autoimmune

oophoritis, the body's immune system attacks the ovaries causing inflammation, severe damage, and

fibrosis.

        Normally, when a sperm wins the frantic race to the egg, the egg immediately allows the 

spermatozoan to enter and mix its DNA with the DNA of the egg.  The mixture of DNA is 50% "me"

and 50% "not me."

        If the body is functioning properly it does not like "not me" and makes moves to get rid of "not 

me." It attacks "not me" to protect itself from viruses, bacteria, and other organisms like yeast or 

protozoa. This is the reason transplant patients have to take anti-rejection drugs. The transplanted 

tissues are "not me."

        To protect itself, the fertilized egg starts making masking proteins to tell the body "move on, 

there's nothing  to see here." The masking proteins hide the "not me." The body only sees the "me."

        Once the embryo implants and begins to increase in size, it becomes too "not me" to ignore. That's

where the placenta takes over. It has many functions but one function is to release hormones and other

factors to prevent rejection of the fetus. Remember that the fetus is "not me." So what you have is

mother ("me") and fetus ("not me.") 

        This is one reason why there is so much controversy over when the fetus becomes a separate,

 individual human.

 

Off Topic, But Important

This post is off topic for this blog, but it is about some things which everyone should realize if they are serious about staying healthy during this COVID - 19 (actually SARS-2 (COV)) pandemic.

Most people in the United States are now wearing face masks. What I have noticed is that many are covering their mouths with the masks but leaving their noses uncovered. I suppose that they find the masks to be hot and confining, but if the nose is not covered the mask is totally worthless. The mucous membranes in the nostrils are prime virus territory.

I have also noticed that people who are wearing latex gloves will whip out their cell phones and text as soon as they have a free moment. There is a reason that they are wearing the gloves; to keep viral contamination off their skin. If the cell phone is touched with the possibly dirty gloves, then whatever was on the gloves is also on the cell phone.

The viral precautions appropriate for the COVID - 19 virus may also reduce the chance of you catching the flu, infectious mononucleosis, strep throat, stomach viruses, and many other nasty things.

The Flu Epidemic

15.This may seem to be off topic, but actually it is not.  Church services are gatherings of people, so anything which would affect the gatherings is a legitimate topic of discussion.  Currently in the United States and numerous other countries there are spreading influenza (“flu”) and norovirus  epidemics.

The H3N2 Influenza A virus is the predominant virus rapidly diffusing across the United States (as of today it has spread to 41 states).  As of 31 December 2012, 2200 persons have been hospitalized and over 18 children have died.  Annually, various forms of the flu kill an average of 36,000 persons in the United States alone.  The route of transmission of the H3N2 virus this time appears  to be East and Southeast Asia, to Australia and New Zealand, then to North America, Europe, and finally South America.  Basically, everyone.

The norovirus is not flu but is a gastrointestinal virus which causes vomiting, diarrhea, muscle aches, headaches, and stomach cramping.  It appears to be spreading in the following path: Australia to the United States, France, New Zealand, Japan, and Great Britain.  It lasts about three days and is not likely to kill anyone who is not already immunocompromised or debilitated.

There are numerous things which people can do to lessen their chances of contracting these viruses.

1.     Wash your hands often, especially after touching anything public such as doorknobs, hand rails, toilet handles, etc.

2.     If sanitary wipes or sanitary hand foam are provided, use them.

3.     Wipe your phone after someone else uses it.

4.     Wipe the handles of carts or baskets at shopping malls.

5.     Use your knuckle or the end of a pen to push the buttons on an elevator.

6.     Keep your hands away from your face, and out of your mouth, nose, or eyes.

7.     If advised to do so by public health officials, do not hesitate to wear a mask in public.

8.     Wash clothing thoroughly and machine dry.  Wash your hands after handling the clothing.

9.     Do not eat raw foods; thoroughly cook fish, meats, poultry, and seafood.  Wash fruits and vegetables under running water before processing them.  Wash your hands after handling uncooked food.

10. Avoid drinking from public fountains if at all possible.

11. Do not share cups, glasses, or eating utensils with other people, especially anyone noticeably sick.

12. If someone is repeatedly coughing or sneezing you might want to move away from them.

13. Sneeze into a napkin, handkerchief, or your shirt sleeve.

14. Before sitting on a public toilet, put down a paper seat cover.  If one is not available, lay down toilet paper on which to sit.

At least during the epidemics, it might be wise not to use a communal communion cup.  If everyone puts his or her mouth on the cup, medically it is the same as if everyone used the same toothbrush.

A Text in the Middle of the Night

Last night at one-thirty AM my wife's smartphone received a text message.  We have someone in the hospital so we burst out of bed to read the message.  It was a text of an internet scam which has been active for over a year.  The text says that the receiver has won $1000 and to get the money one needs only go to a link provided in the text.  The link loads a virus which steals a person's private personal information (passwords, account numbers, social security number, etc) from a computer or smartphone.
This is a criminal activity.

Attacks on personal information are rampant.  In just the same way, Christians are constantly under attack from The Evil One and his servants, especially when they are distracted by life's worries or worse, are spiritually asleep.  It is not currently popular to think of Satan as a person but the Bible clearly does.  Most people, including Christians, do not need his help in falling short of the mark.

Remember, if you resist the devil in the power of the Lord, the devil will run away! James 4:7.