Hepatitis B immunization

CBI wrote:


It is not a live virus so the child will either react or not but has no
chance of "not coping." It has been studied and it appears the the young
ones do react quite nicely. There is no theory to suggest that the
successful reaction, or the unsuccessful ones, present any burden that is
harmful in any way. In fact, the way the immune system becomes "strong" is
by being challenged so most reasonable theories should suggest that the
vaccines are good for the kids.


And in fact, there are several studies showing that early
vaccinations (by 2 months or so) lead to fewer immune system problems
(most notably less likelihood of atopic disease), with the theory
being that the early vaccinations exercise the immune system in
a good way so as to beneficially affect the development of T cells.

Best wishes,
Ericka

In ,
Ericka Kammerer wrote:

*CBI wrote:
*
*
* It is not a live virus so the child will either react or not but has no
* chance of "not coping." It has been studied and it appears the the young
* ones do react quite nicely. There is no theory to suggest that the
* successful reaction, or the unsuccessful ones, present any burden that is
* harmful in any way. In fact, the way the immune system becomes "strong" is
* by being challenged so most reasonable theories should suggest that the
* vaccines are good for the kids.
*
*
* And in fact, there are several studies showing that early
*vaccinations (by 2 months or so) lead to fewer immune system problems
*(most notably less likelihood of atopic disease), with the theory
*being that the early vaccinations exercise the immune system in
*a good way so as to beneficially affect the development of T cells.
*

Hee hee. I just like the idea of exercising the immune system. I am
picturing lymphocytes lifting barbells and neutrophils punching punching
bags full of bacteria. hee hee hee.

--
hillary israeli vmd http://www.hillary.net
"uber vaccae in quattuor partes divisum est."
not-so-newly minted veterinarian-at-large

Hillary Israeli wrote:

In ,
Ericka Kammerer wrote:

* And in fact, there are several studies showing that early
*vaccinations (by 2 months or so) lead to fewer immune system problems
*(most notably less likelihood of atopic disease), with the theory
*being that the early vaccinations exercise the immune system in
*a good way so as to beneficially affect the development of T cells.

Hee hee. I just like the idea of exercising the immune system. I am
picturing lymphocytes lifting barbells and neutrophils punching punching
bags full of bacteria. hee hee hee.


Yes, that's sort of my image too and I find it rather
amusing ;-) And really, it makes a certain amount of sense to
me as well.

Best wishes,
Ericka

abacus wrote:

Ericka Kammerer wrote in message ...

And in fact, there are several studies showing that early
vaccinations (by 2 months or so) lead to fewer immune system problems
(most notably less likelihood of atopic disease), with the theory
being that the early vaccinations exercise the immune system in
a good way so as to beneficially affect the development of T cells.

Interesting, I haven't seen such studies.


It's an interesting line of research. Things aren't conclusive
yet by any means, but it's related to the "hygiene hypothesis" line of
research into atopic disease. The basic idea is that one of the factors
theorized to have led to the increased prevalence of atopic disease,
particularly in more developed areas, is that hygiene is too good,
leading to fewer childhood infections. When babies are born, they
have immature T helper cells. Fairly early in life, they begin to
differentiate into Th-1 or Th-2 types of cells. If the balance is tipped
too far towards Th-2 cells, the incidence of atopic disease is
increased. While a number of factors can influence this distribution,
certain kinds of infections are helpful in stimulating strong Th-1
responses. It is theorized that the right sort of vaccinations can
do the same--with less risk than exposing infants to serious
infections. Time does seem to be significant. If this process
doesn't start early enough, you may miss the window of opportunity
for affecting the balance of Th-1 and Th-2 cells.

From what I've read, there seems to be a mounting pile
of evidence along several streams that are supportive of these
theories. I don't think anyone suggests that this is the *only*
factor involved, but it does seem to help explain many things
and there's a plausible physiological mechanism.

Best wishes,
Ericka