15
votes
Is it known how often unvaccinated children are contagious with symptom free diseases?
Unvaccinated members of a population contribute to the susceptibility of the rest of the population to disease, especially vulnerable people who cannot be vaccinated. This fact is true whether or not ...
- 5,754
9
votes
Accepted
Delayed vaccination: effect on the immune system
The human immune system
Basically, the human (and that includes all ages) immune system has two parts:
The innate immune system is a very old part (which doesn't mean it's bad or superfluous, on the ...
- 6,982
9
votes
What are the limits on the amount of pathogens that a body can be immune to at any given time?
Won't this (having a flu vaccine every year) put them in an uncharted territory as far as effects on the immune systems are concerned within a couple of decades?
No
You are exposed to and develop a ...
- 3,188
9
votes
Can someone have an allergic reaction to a virus?
The TH1/TH2 model of T-cell responsiveness can be summarized as TH1 being the "antiviral/antibacterial" immune response and TH2 is the "antiparasite" immune response against worms ...
- 13.3k
8
votes
Accepted
Why don't leave HIV infected people in aseptic environment until they're cured?
There are three major reasons why we can't just keep someone in an aseptic environment and wait for their CD4 count to drop to zero and - presumably - for HIV to have consumed itself to extinction in ...
- 2,433
8
votes
Accepted
Is there evidence that the over-avoidance of germs weakens our immune system?
The hygiene hypothesis
For some reason I hold the opinion that the immune system needs to be kept busy so it wont get weak
In scientific terms, this is known as the hygiene hypothesis. It was ...
- 6,982
8
votes
In a viral infection, which symptoms are caused by the virus itself, and which symptoms are caused by the body fighting the virus?
To provide a brief answer, as I think a sufficient answer would be far beyond the scope of this site, the symptoms that are "generic" to the common colds are all caused by the body's response to a ...
- 1,846
8
votes
Why should we finish antibiotic treatments in order to prevent antibiotics resistance?
Mayo Clinic on the example of tuberculosis:
Stopping treatment too soon or skipping doses can allow the bacteria
that are still alive to become resistant to those drugs, leading to tuberculosis
...
- 15.8k
8
votes
Accepted
Will there ever be a universal vaccine for the common cold?
If I get infected once with the virus which causes a common cold, does that mean I will not get infected with the same strain of the virus ever in my lifetime?
It depends on quirks of your immune ...
- 9,384
8
votes
Accepted
Will the COVID-19 vaccine grant immunity to other coronaviruses?
An article on Medium had a Q&A with various medical and public policy experts about the vaccine and its rollout. One of the questions was exactly what you asked. The answer is basically "...
- 611
7
votes
Accepted
How does a breeze cause irritated nose and throat?
It does so by drying out your mucous membranes. Air moving over your face as you sleep is going to have more of a drying effect on your nose, sinuses, and throat than still air. This is especially ...
- 9,694
7
votes
Accepted
Does stopping fever hinder the process of killing bacteria via fever?
This is a great question, an area of active debate, and a personal interest of mine. I actually just did a presentation on this, so this answer will probably have more information in it than you need, ...
- 1,271
7
votes
Accepted
How can immunity be developed without a vaccine? (re Merkel's speech)
It's hard to know exactly what another person is thinking, but Merkel is probably referencing herd immunity.
Assuming that people who are infected and recover will be less susceptible to infection in ...
- 13.3k
7
votes
Are there diseases for which infection does not grant lasting immunity but a vaccine does?
Rabies is almost 100% fatal so there is no chance to develop immunity. So, post-exposure vaccination is used if the person has not been vaccinated prior to exposure.
Rabies is a vaccine-...
- 13.2k
7
votes
Are there diseases for which infection does not grant lasting immunity but a vaccine does?
Varicella zoster - you can get infected and then develop shingles recurrences which are preventable using vaccination eg Shingrix
https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vpd/shingles/public/shingrix/index.html
- 196
6
votes
Accepted
Does vaccination weaken the immune system ? Studies?
I have found a couple of papers which debunk this myth. The links here go directly to free PDF copies and there are DOI links in the references in case the PDF links die.
The most recent paper I can ...
- 6,154
6
votes
Will COVID-19 survivors develop immunity from future infections?
There is a study from Chinese scientists from Bejing on this question:
Reinfection could not occur in SARS-CoV-2 infected rhesus macaques
Combined with the follow-up virologic, radiological and ...
- 154
6
votes
If I get COVID-19, can I get cured by myself?
If you’re young and healthy with only mild symptoms, your doctor will likely advise you to isolate yourself at home and to limit contact with others in your household. You’ll likely be advised to rest,...
- 13.3k
6
votes
Do coronavirus antibodies give you any immunity?
You're asking some completely different questions here from sources talking about completely different aspects of antibody-mediated immunity.
The first statement, from WHO, is talking about people ...
- 13.3k
6
votes
How can Stockholm be close to herd immunity without having overwhelmed the healthcare system?
The level at which herd immunity is achieved varies with the communicability of the disease. The standard rule of thumb is that the percentage of the population that has to be immune is pc = (1 - 1 / ...
- 911
5
votes
Accepted
Does fasting improve your immune system even when you are already having some infection?
This sounds like dream come true for 'alternative medicine':
Water-Only Fasting Can Help The Body To Fight Off Disease – And Can Have The Most Profound Health Benefits Too:
A recent news item ...
- 6,867
5
votes
Accepted
How do steroids work in treating a multiple sclerosis relapse?
Steroids are used as treatment for acute attacks/flares in many diseases because they reduce inflammation.
In multiple sclerosis, they are given to reduce inflammation of the nerves that occurs when ...
- 6,982
5
votes
Accepted
Effect of the common cold on the immune system
I've written on this subject a few times, but the most relevant question ended up being closed, and the other is on Bio.SE, so I will mostly focus on tailoring the information there to the specifics ...
- 1,846
5
votes
What happens to HIV once it completely destroys the immune system?
In addition to what anongoodnurse wrote about the patient likely dieing, I don't think this scenario would work at all.
HIV doesn't infect all immune cells. It infects T-cells/CD4 cells, which are ...
- 6,982
5
votes
Can blood transfusion help in case of scleroderma?
I'm not aware of any work done in this area. A whole blood transfusion is not going replace circulating defective lymphocytes.
On the other hand Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation has some ...
- 13.2k
5
votes
Accepted
Does conscious sleep impair immunity?
This is currently a researchable topic in neuroscience.
Actually its not about light sleep or deep sleep or resting.Neuroscience prefers to describe sleep in the context of the immunity into mainly ...
- 288
5
votes
Why are two influenza vaccinations required for people under a certain age?
In 2015-16, The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices issued a report on Prevention and Control of Influenza with Vaccines that recommended that all children (under nine years old) should get ...
- 958
5
votes
Accepted
Is it possible to be allergic to corn but not popcorn?
Essentially this depends on which specific protein a person is allergic too. There will be a lot of crossover in plants so closely related as to be different subspecies of the same species, but some ...
- 2,984
5
votes
Accepted
Can common cold really be lethal?
It is extremely unlikely that common cold as such would kill you, but the complications could.
The definition of a common cold is a viral infection of the nose and throat as reflected from its Latin ...
- 15.8k
5
votes
Rising allergy and intolerance diagnosis rates
This answer would be for the Hygiene Hypothesis part of the question
Epidemiology studies in favour of Hypothesis
The geographical distribution of allergic and autoimmune diseases is a mirror ...
- 706
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible