At 04:40 PM 10/11/2000 +0000, you wrote: >My first impulse is to agree with those who have made the decision to >avoid vaccines for their children. *But I can't help but feel that >these children are only safe because everyone else around them is >vaccinated, ensuring they'll never get exposed to these viruses/germs.* >But what happens if the number of unvaccinated children rises in the >future? Other than smallpox, none of these diseases has really been >eradicated. So if no-one is vaccinated, everyone becomes vulnerable. >Has the anti-vax movement addressed these questions effectively? > >Cheyenne If germs(bacteria,viruses,parasites,etc.) caused disease then everyone exposed would get it. This is not the case because the differences in individual immune systems are due to a number stresses and our adaptability to them. The immune system is actually a circulating extension of the nervous system allowing one to comprehend themselves internally and their environment externally. It is the health of the nervous system that determines how we will react to a foreign protein. Germs were here long before us and will be here long after we are gone. Saying germs cause disease is like saying rats cause garbage. You can use all the traps and poisons you like but the rat will adapt and come back because the environment is to his liking. To make them leave simply clean up the garbage. What do we do? We pour more garbage on top and add drugs to the mix to further compromise our immune systems not improve it's adaptability. Besides when would a weakened pathogen every make it deep within our body without the help of a needle? Germs require a very specific environment in which to thrive and that's why you won't find polio in the toe nails, rabies in the gonads, or hepatitis in the brain. They can only survive in an environment conducive to their reproduction. Many lab produced vaccines are in reality making the viruses adapt to an environment which is highly different than our body's. The chemicals added are probably the worse part of the mix. I take my hat off to a pathogen that has adapted to an environment where aluminum, mercury, and formaldehyde are the norm. When a vaccinated person is exposed to the real thing it is unlikely that they are building both a humoral and cell mediated response. Those with a healthy immune system will have a mild response and life long immunity while those "immunized" will have to get booster shots. Doesn't make much sense. Improvements in nutrition and sanitation go along way to preventing an enormous exposure to various germs. Basically don't drink the water down stream when someone is shitting in the river upstream. Dave