3 ms·
We already have vaccines that work for humans. They were retracted in the 90s because of public outcry that the vaccines "cause arthritis" in much the way that
by chadzawistowski 11y ago
We already have vaccines that work for humans. They were retracted in the 90s because of public outcry that the vaccines "cause arthritis" in much the way that people today outcry that vaccines "cause autism".
“Lyme disease is the only infection I know of where we have a safe and effective vaccine, but it’s not available to the public,” says Dr. Allen Steere, the physician who uncovered the disease.
http://www.wbur.org/2012/06/27/lyme-vaccine http://www.wbur.org/2012/06/27/lyme-vaccine
- ghaff 11y ago>because of public outcry that the vaccines "cause arthritis" Well, that specific vaccine. However, to your basic point, even though the specific vaccine in question (LYMErix) was "only" about 80% effective, the federal government should make it available through some mechanism for adults today given the increasing incidence of Lyme disease. (And should add it to the vaccines covered by liability protection.)
- wnoise 11y agoUnfortunately, there's no "herd-immunity" externalized benefit, so the efficient way to allocate it is by individuals buying doses for themselves. (Well, for Homo economicus, rather than Homo sapiens.)
- ghaff 11y agoI'm fine with buying it (for a semi-reasonable price, i.e. not $10K) but no one makes an FDA-approved version and it's not clear how active the efforts are to get a LYMErix replacement approved. (There have been early-stage clinical trials but there don't seem to be aggressive efforts to move forward.) Presumably the canine versions would be safe enough but you can't just buy those on the open market and administer them.