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Curmudgeon’s Corner: Measles Triggers Immune Amnesia

by | Nov 1, 2021

Post Categories: Chronic and Infectious Diseases

I left naturopathic school in 1991 believing that vaccinations had a negative impact on the function of the immune system and that being immunized came at a cost paid back in an increased risk of autoimmune disease. Autoimmune disease being a first world problem and infectious disease a third world problem, we rationalized that the risk benefit of vaccination varied with geography.

In recent years these beliefs have been challenged. The theory that exposure to childhood illnesses was necessary to ‘train’ the immune system to increase its resilience has not held up well over time. There certainly have been distinct examples of specific vaccines leading to catastrophic autoimmune problems; the 1976 swine flu vaccine led to Guillain-Barre syndrome, the 2009 H1N1 vaccine Pandemrix was associated with narcolepsy,1 the MMR vaccine causing thrombocytopenic purpura, and smallpox myopericarditis. Yet these reactions have been limited to very specific products, and we have not seen general reactions linked to vaccines in general.

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Author

Jacob Schor, ND, FABNO

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