Digging Deeper: Vaccinations -- I got a response from a friend.

arrliinn (64)in #vaccine • 7 years ago

Last week, when I wrote about my slow recovery from flu and some of my thoughts on vaccines, I decided to share the link on my facebook page - firstly to promote steemit, and secondly to get more views on my post, hopefully.

Well, actually, I am not sure whether people there are paying attention to my links. I get occasional thumbs ups which is good, but when I got a reply about actual thoughts regarding my post, then it meant that some people really open the links that I share. :D

Shedding light to the issue

_{Image: Pixabay}

As I mentioned on my earlier post, my stance on vaccines is still pretty much undefined. Though all my kids were vaccinated, it was more on because it was promoted by the government, covered by the health insurance so free of cost and because the bigger population does it. In short, I was a blind follower.

Thanks to steemit though, through people sharing their first hand experiences and vaccine related horror stories, my eyes got opened. I think it would also be an understatement if I will tell that @canadian-coconut was one of the first people here on steemit who influenced me to at least start questioning vaccination. She has gone deep into the topic, and it is really worthwhile to read her blogs.

The response I received

So yeah, I shared my steemit blogpost on my facebook page and got myself a reader. He was my highschool classmate, who is now a medical doctor. He also studied Molecular Biology and Biotechnology and if I am not mistaken, written quite a few papers regarding micro biology. Reason why he got interested on my post and gave his few cents too.

_{Screen shot from my facebook wall}

Whooopps! Stop there. Ok. Apart from the message came across to me like jumbled letters, a person with very limited medical knowledge that I am, I had to read his comment many times to understand. So it is hard put together a dengue vaccine considering that:

_{Instead of neutralizing subsequent infection of a different serotype, the previously formed immunoglobulin actually facilitates further viral host entry and replication, leading to worse symptoms which clinically we see as a more severe type of infection.}

So why push a dengue vaccination drive when we are unsure of the results? We agreed on the point that the Dengvaxia fiasco in Philippines is more on bad government implementation over "Bad Science."

_{"you have to be sure you had the infection if you want to benefit from the vaccine. otherwise, you put yourself at an unnecessary risk."}

Oh I surely hope and pray that when doing vaccination campaigns, alongside, the government does information drive too. Not just tell people to get the vaccine, but let them know of the pros and cons. Just right. Right?

_{Screen shot from my facebook wall}

Honestly, if we were to see the supposed benefits of the vaccines, vaccination looks promising.

However, my question...

What puzzles me though, are the vaccine-related injuries that are being reported. Are these made up or could there really be fatal side effects from these vaccines. If so, what can we do about it?

I got busy with work and of course steemit, I was not able to reply on this comment anymore.

Vaccination is a very controversial and sensitive topic, hence, apart from my own observations and innocent questions, I could not comment more. I am still trying to get more insights and knowledge about this topic and hopefully, a lot more people start engaging on this topic too.

Anyone who can give their insights and comments in relation to my question will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks for reading! Let's talk. :D

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