| > In an otherwise healthy adult, what puts your immune system through it's paces - what gives your immune system a workout - like having the flu ? That's not how immune systems work. This isn't just a round of going to the gym. Getting a vaccine also gives your immune system a chance to learn and react, but without the severe degradation of your condition and the significant risk of secondary infection. > What happens to my immune system if I don't give it that thorough workout every year for ... say ... 40 years ? First of all, you run less of a risk of getting secondary infection when your immune system is weakened. Secondly, you run a higher risk of transmitting the flu to people who can't be vaccinated (for example, babies or the elderly), putting their lives at risk. [Herd immunity: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herd_immunity] > Related to that, what else gets killed every 12 months when my temperature goes up to 102 or 104 for half a day ? That's the opposite of how your immune system works. While your system is focussed on fighting off one infection, it's less able to deal with secondary infections. You can end up spreading your system too thin and your health can deteriorate much more rapidly. [Secondary/opportunistic infection: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infection#Primary_versus_oppor...] In other words, not getting a vaccine is unwise both for yourself and for other people. |
Citation please. I'm somewhat skeptical about GP's viewpoint, but equally skeptical that you can so confidently dismiss him, given the number of things we still don't understand about the immune system. For example, doctors still haven't managed to cure any autoimmune illness, even though we've studied them for quite some time.
Full disclosure: I suffer from autoimmune illness, and every time I ask me doctor about my condition, the answer is often 'we still haven't figured it out'. The sheer complexity of all the different immune cell types, cytokine signaling, antibody production, etc. is mind-boggling, and is the product of millions of years of evolutionary arms race.
In particular, vaccines predispose your immune system towards an immediate Th2-type (humoral) response, while acute viral infection prompts first a Th1 (intracellular) response, then a Th2 response during recovery.
A strong Th1 immune response is generally more effective against viral illnesses, so it's possible that if you had a different concurrent viral infection, getting the flu could encourage your body to clear both at the same time.
Also, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hygiene_hypothesis
> you run less of a risk of getting secondary infection when your immune system is weakened
That's true, but you haven't shown that getting the flu weakens your immune system.
> While your system is focussed on fighting off one infection, it's less able to deal with secondary infections.
Your citation doesn't actually support your claim. Latent subclinical infections are real, and it's possible that acute febrile illness can stimulate the immune system to go after other bugs that have been hiding or dormant.
There is some evidence that ongoing viral infections can weaken your bodies defenses against bacterial illnesses and vice versa.