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Discussion on How vaccinations work
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Member:
Scooter
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Posted on Thursday, Dec 14, 2006 - 9:45 pm:
Hi Dr.O. I did read this article, but I have a stupid question. Why can't we or animals take pills instead of vaccines?
Like a flu pill, or a rabies pill instead of vaccinations? Wouldn't our bodies reconize this as foreign and launch anti-bodies?...just wondering
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Moderator:
DrO
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Posted on Friday, Dec 15, 2006 - 7:04 am:
You do develop antibodies to some ingested substances that your body considers sufficiently foreign but there are a number or reasons this does not work with vaccines, at least with current technology. The first is that the antigenic proteins are rapidly broken down before a immune response can be generated. If you could find a way to make them persist past the stomach and small bowel the humoral type immunity that develops in the bowel is somewhat different than that which comes from systemic exposure. This immune response tends to be more local and may be poorly protective against exposure away from the bowel. If you could be fed a modified organism that would gain access to the blood stream to stimulate a systemic immune response you would have a product that works.
DrO
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Member:
Scooter
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Posted on Friday, Dec 15, 2006 - 7:34 am:
Thanks Dr.O. If I recall when my children were small they got some kind of oral vaccine (pink fluid) I think it was polio. Why does that work?
Thanks again
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Moderator:
DrO
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Posted on Friday, Dec 15, 2006 - 6:26 pm:
Polio is primarily an orally transmitted disease: it's mode of transmission is that it is absorbed from the bowel. The oral vaccine was created by passing it through monkey diestive tracts. So here we have a bowel adapted virus to a disease whose main transmission is through the digestive system. By giving the oral vaccine you provide maximal immune stimulation at the site of reproduction of the virus and entry to the body where the organism circulates to the brain. There is currently a move away from this modified live form of vaccine to a killed injected vaccine because the injectable form has fewer side effects but is not considered as effective at suppressing wild polio virus reproduction.
DrO
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Member:
Scooter
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Posted on Saturday, Dec 16, 2006 - 6:55 am:
Thanks Dr.O. I think I understand now. I was just thinking that the oral type would cause less reactions....but maybe not.
Thanks again.
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