4 ms·

You can't get vaccinated before a certain age. If there are unvaccinated people around, spreading the disease, your child has a chance to catch it when they are

You can't get vaccinated before a certain age. If there are unvaccinated people around, spreading the disease, your child has a chance to catch it when they are still vulnerable.

nonbel 9y ago
This is a myth. The original reason babies are not vaccinated is that they are supposed to be already protected by maternal antibodies, and therefore the vaccine won't work. Nowadays there is a new problem of people spreading the myth that vaccination is known to be dangerous to infants, so it is not politically acceptable to lower the vaccination age. This is even though we know the maternal antibodies of vaccinated mothers wear out sooner than those of earlier generations (who generated them in response to a full on infection). I explained this a number of times in an earlier thread: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13655795 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13655795 For example here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13656462 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13656462
- ahakki 9y ago
  Does it really matter why an infant is not vaccinated in this discussion? Unless we immeduatly vaccinate everyone as soon as they leave the womb (unlikely / impossible) there will always be unvaccinated people.
  - nonbel 9y ago
    >"Does it really matter why an infant is not vaccinated in this discussion?" Yes, for two reasons: 1) It is not the vaccinated/unvaccinated state that determines whether someone is susceptible to measles. Instead, it is whether they have antibodies towards the virus. One reason to have antibodies towards the virus is vaccination, another would be having had a measles infection in the past, and the most important to us here is being recently (~1 yr) born from a mother that has antibodies. The newborns are already protected from measles, there is no reason to be concerned about exposing them to measles until the maternal antibodies wear off. 2) This myth is an obstacle to preventing the spread of measles because it is not possible to lower the vaccination age to account for the more quickly waning maternal antibodies generated by vaccinated (as opposed to previously infected) mothers. By repeating this myth you are helping to spread measles. > "Unless we immeduatly vaccinate everyone as soon as they leave the womb (unlikely / impossible) there will always be unvaccinated people." So what if the newborns are unvaccinated? They are already protected by the maternal antibodies. Further, even if you did vaccinate them, it would fail to elicit immunity because the maternal antibodies would just neutralize the vaccine. I feel like I am repeating myself here though...
- cies 9y ago
  Thanks for this thorough response.

You can't get vaccinated before a certain age. If there are unvaccinated people around, spreading the disease, your child has a chance to catch it when they are still vulnerable.

nonbel 9y ago

This is a myth. The original reason babies are not vaccinated is that they are supposed to be already protected by maternal antibodies, and therefore the vaccine won't work. Nowadays there is a new problem of people spreading the myth that vaccination is known to be dangerous to infants, so it is not politically acceptable to lower the vaccination age. This is even though we know the maternal antibodies of vaccinated mothers wear out sooner than those of earlier generations (who generated them in response to a full on infection). I explained this a number of times in an earlier thread: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13655795 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13655795 For example here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13656462 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13656462

ahakki 9y ago
Does it really matter why an infant is not vaccinated in this discussion? Unless we immeduatly vaccinate everyone as soon as they leave the womb (unlikely / impossible) there will always be unvaccinated people.
- nonbel 9y ago
  >"Does it really matter why an infant is not vaccinated in this discussion?" Yes, for two reasons: 1) It is not the vaccinated/unvaccinated state that determines whether someone is susceptible to measles. Instead, it is whether they have antibodies towards the virus. One reason to have antibodies towards the virus is vaccination, another would be having had a measles infection in the past, and the most important to us here is being recently (~1 yr) born from a mother that has antibodies. The newborns are already protected from measles, there is no reason to be concerned about exposing them to measles until the maternal antibodies wear off. 2) This myth is an obstacle to preventing the spread of measles because it is not possible to lower the vaccination age to account for the more quickly waning maternal antibodies generated by vaccinated (as opposed to previously infected) mothers. By repeating this myth you are helping to spread measles. > "Unless we immeduatly vaccinate everyone as soon as they leave the womb (unlikely / impossible) there will always be unvaccinated people." So what if the newborns are unvaccinated? They are already protected by the maternal antibodies. Further, even if you did vaccinate them, it would fail to elicit immunity because the maternal antibodies would just neutralize the vaccine. I feel like I am repeating myself here though...
cies 9y ago
Thanks for this thorough response.