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Which is why it's preferable to have a broad spectrum of immunity to pathogens, rather than an immune response that's limited to a very small number of attribut
by brippalcharrid 5y ago
Which is why it's preferable to have a broad spectrum of immunity to pathogens, rather than an immune response that's limited to a very small number of attributes, which are then subject to increased selection pressure in one particular direction (eg. mutations of the spike protein).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Original_antigenic_sin https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Original_antigenic_sin
- abracadaniel 5y agoA natural immune response will contain antibodies that will attack all parts of the virus, putting selection pressure towards changing the shell of the virus which can be done without compromising the functionality. By only providing the spike protein via a vaccine, you ensure that the selection pressure is against the key functionality of the virus. Changes to the spike sufficient to evade the antibodies would also reduce the effectiveness of the virus.