Blog Feed

At this point in my microbiology class I have learned about numerous bacterial and viral infections. I had a little bit of knowledge coming into this class, but no where near the amount of information I have come to learn. I’m sure by now, if you have read my previous blog posts, you are aware that I am pro vaccine. Somewhat of a hot take today with all the anti-vaccination movements. I don’t mean to sound rude, but are you really gonna listen to someone famous over a physician that has been studying for way too many years about vaccines? The answer should be no. Vaccines are our friends, helping us survive in the world today with tons of bacteria and germs everywhere. (I am also kind of a germaphobe now). I never understood how easily certain diseases can be transmitted person to person. An example being the common cold. This viral infection has a low R naught value, meaning it only takes a few microorganisms to cause signs and symptoms. Simply touching an inanimate object that has been contaminated by an infected person can cause you to also become infected. There is no vaccine for the common cold, however there are vaccines for diphtheria, measles, mumps, and rubella, the infections I am going to talk about now.

Diphtheria is a disease I was unaware of before. It is simply a terrible infection in your nose and throat, and guess what. This disease can be easily prevented by getting vaccinated! Who would have thought. It becomes hard for someone to breath since a layer of mucous will start to line the back of your throat. Feeling mucous in your throat is not fun, as many of us know. As discussed in my microbiology class, this disease has a very potent A-B toxin. Once the A subunit has been released from the B subunit, the toxin has spread and can now caused damage. Because of how potent this toxin is, waiting to seek treatment can be fatal. You want to be treated immediately once this disease as been suspected. You know how to prevent the stress from worrying about whether a toxin is destroying you system? By getting your vaccines! There is even a vaccine called DTaP that prevents pertussis, tetanus, and diphtheria. There have been recent changes to the 2020 vaccination schedule. If a child receives their fourth dose of DTaP by the time they turn four and also were given the fourth dose six months after they got the third dose, than they don’t need to get a fifth dose. One less shot sounds amazing to me, especially for the parents that deal with screaming children which is most of them when it comes to taking them to the doctors office.

Measles, mumps, and rubella are all preventable by getting vaccinated. And they are even all compiled into one called the MMR vaccine. Amazing. However, people still aren’t getting their children vaccinated. WHY?!? In 2019, the measles become an issue in areas with low vaccination rates, causing a spike in the number of people that become ill. These numbers haven’t been this high since 1992. New York alone caused over 75% of reported cases. The outbreaks in New York were first seen in the fall of 2018. So the measles has been a problem for over a year. Robert Redfield, director of U.S center for disease control and prevention stated “The best way to stop this and other vaccine-preventable diseases from gaining a foothold in the U.S. is to accept vaccines.” The United States wasn’t alone in the struggle against the measles. Congo and Samoa were both greatly hit by the number of people infected. The United States has tried to eliminate measles by including immunization programs. They attempted to require children going to school to get the required vaccines. As many of us are aware, people are able to delay their child from getting vaccinated or not vaccinate them at all by saying they have religious reasons. Just get your child vaccinated, it’s really not that hard. You are putting not only your child, but everyone else’s children at risk of contracting any disease by not having them vaccinated. This is just selfish to me. Help yourself and others out by getting the proper vaccinations when required and aiding in the spread of herd immunity.

As many of us are aware, there has been drastic increases in people not willing to vaccinate their children. Some believe they are harmful and may cause further damage to their seemingly healthy child. I’ve even seen posts about the number of vaccines a child receives early in life being way too many. Looking at an image of a child with numerous vaccines around them does seem scary, however it’s not like they are being given 10 or more shots in one day. Babies are given multiple vaccines because they are technically immunocompromised, having no prior exposure to any bacteria or virus. A child with no protection against a virus will more than likely come down with severe signs and symptoms, whereas if they had a vaccine to help fight off the disease, their signs and symptoms wouldn’t be as severe. As my microbiology teacher says, you wouldn’t want to leave a baby alone to fight off a vicious bear by itself. Many would wish for their child to have help. This bear is the same as a disease you child will come in contact with at some point. You should want your child to have some type of help in order to survive.

A vaccine is merely a package with a live or inactive pathogen. There is only enough pathogen to induce an active immune response. This is similar to your child being exposed to a small dog first, something that isn’t harmful to them unlike a vicious bear. Polio, for example, has two different vaccines. One is an inactivated virus (IPV) and the other is an attenuated virus (OPV) which just means a weakened pathogen that has a low chance of causing a disease. Approximately three years ago there was a change to the polio vaccine. Heath care providers wanted to remove the type 2 poliovirus from the vaccine since it was linked to children becoming paralyzed when taken orally. They were hoping to eradicate type 2 poliovirus, never having to put a child at the risk of become paralyzed. However, since it wasn’t deemed eradicated everywhere, children that didn’t receive any form of polio vaccine would be at high risk of contracting the disease. Many countries were successful in removing type 2 poliovirus, however Africa wasn’t. Many professionals don’t want to switch back to the old vaccine, however I think it would only make sense to do so. I feel like they want to prove the change in the polio vaccine can work, but when more than double the amount of people had cases of polio than the previous year, something has to change. There is a vaccine virus associated with not receiving the vaccine with type 2 polio. At first I was confused about what this meant, but now believe it means the live virus in the vaccine can become virulent again if a child comes in contact with someone who is infectious. This would mean the living virus inside the vaccine that had a low chance of causing disease has now been activated again by the polio virus that infected the child. This is a new concept to me, I never thought of a vaccine being able to become virulent again and cause the disease it should have been protecting against. Many children in Africa don’t have any protection against type 2 poliovirus because of the change in the vaccine, so the vaccine virus has become a problem. I think the safest option, for Africa especially, is to go back to the old vaccine.

In the later end of 2019, there is believed to be only polio virus type one in the world according to this article. Wild polio type 2 and 3 were said to be eradicated as of 2019. This data conflicts with the previous article that stated type 2 hasn’t been completely eradicated. It seems to me that type 2 polio virus has become eradicated, but the vaccine virus is still an issue. So is type 2 really eradicated if it is still prevalent in the vaccine virus? I would think not, but I’m not the expert here. Although type 2 being gone is good for us, there are also negative aspects of polio still prevalent today. The oral vaccine (OPV) has become increasingly problematic. Taking the oral vaccine means you are placing living polio virus in you. Although this virus is weakened, it can still cause disease as seen in the previous paragraph. The other option would be the inactivated polio vaccine (IPV) that is an inactivated virus that doesn’t cause polio. Another issue many of us have heard of is the anti-vaccination movement. To me, there is no reason to not get vaccinated. Some people against vaccinations believe the disease can’t be that serious if it can be prevented. Excuse me? This article was the first time I ever saw this reason to not get vaccinated and honestly it makes me mad at how unintelligent that sounds. Anything is capable of killing you these days. To hear that anyone would believe just because polio has a vaccine means it is harmless makes no sense. Some virus’ don’t even have antiviral medications that work, so not getting the vaccine could possibly be the reason for someone’s death. In every one of my blog posts I try to stress how important I think getting vaccinated is. If everyone got vaccinated, some of these human only reservoir diseases could be eradicated. Polio’s reservoir for example is only humans. It is so important to read accurate information when it comes to health care. There is so much information out there that is false and not backed up with ample research. Help your future self and children out by always getting vaccinated.

Vaccines are very controversial in today’s society. With the power of social media and famous faces, it is very easy to become misinformed about what is going on in the world of vaccines. I encourage everyone to do their own research before choosing to vaccinate or not vaccinate. I am very hopeful that if you are reading scholarly articles, you will wish everyone would get vaccinated. Viruses that only have human reservoirs should be easily eliminated by vaccines, however they are still issues today. Measles, for example, is a virus that doesn’t mutate and has a vaccine. Why would someone want to put themselves at risk to get the measles? The UK was believed to have eliminated the measles, but has now been proven false. There has even been mumps outbreaks near Chapel Hill, a virus I thought wasn’t a prevalent issue anymore. If people would just get the MMR vaccine, they would be protected from measles, mumps, and rubella, all viruses that don’t mutate, so you would only need to get this shot once. Any protection is better than no protection!

The world heath organization defines the hesitancy to receive vaccines as a “delay in acceptance or refusal of vaccines despite availability of vaccination services.” This statement makes no sense to me. It makes it seem as though individuals are grasping at any negative side affect of vaccines in order to make themselves feel better that they are choosing not to get vaccinated. If they are being offered to you, some for free in certain areas like the flu vaccine, then why wouldn’t you want to help your body out when fighting off viruses? Social media today can make anyone believe in anything. Even the most random, far stretched opinion will be seen as factual when posted on social media because the internet is always correct, right? The internet allows information to be spread rapidly and within the blink of an eye you can have tons of people starting to believe rumors that vaccines cause autism or vaccines are dangerous, etc. There was a study of anti-vaccination posts seen on facebook by British parents. Over half of them with a child under the age of five reported to have seen numerous negative posts about vaccinations. These negative messages cause some parents to feel concerned and hold off on getting their children vaccinated. If enough parents see the posts and decide to postpone vaccinations, herd immunity will no longer exist and anyone’s unvaccinated child can easily contract a virus.

Looking at anti-vaccination campaigns honestly made me angry. I wish I knew what was going on in these individuals minds that made them so against vaccines. Some doctors never thought they would be asked whether they get their children vaccinated. The hesitancy parents face around vaccines is said to be a top threat to global health. According to the world health organization, the United States is a country believed to have eliminated the measles. This is no longer the case as there have been recent outbreaks. The internet has spread so many misinformed rumors that anti-vaccine campaigns have only been growing. Some states have chosen to get ride of religious reasons being a choice to opt out of vaccines. I think people are too quick to point fingers. Just because your child saw signs of autism shortly after receiving the MMR vaccine doesn’t mean that vaccine is the cause. Autism signs are seen to rise around the same age children are given the MMR vaccine. Parents are looking for a distinct cause for their child’s autism. It just isn’t that easy to point out the cause of why a child has autism. Would you want your child to become infected with measles, mumps, or rubella? I would bet that most parents want to protect their children at any and all costs. So, I just don’t comprehend why parents aren’t willing to provide any form of protection from illnesses.

Before taking a microbiology course I had never heard of the term “microbiome.” I was aware that out bodies harbored bacteria, but I was unaware of the importance and function of these organisms. According to my microbiology class, there seems to be ten times the amount of microbial cells than human cells. Although this is just a rough estimate, having more bacteria inside us than our own cells is terrifying. It seems like bacteria has taken over and we have no control of it’s function. Not all microbes inside us are harmful. Many assist in our health. An example being they help prevent disease by out competing invading species. There is still tons of research being done attempting to uncover all the unknowns of what is truly going on in our bodies. A child will develop a functional microbiome around 3 years old, after being exposed to a variety of bacteria and viruses.

Recent studies have formed a relationship between kid’s microbiomes and the development of asthma. The type of organisms found in the upper respiratory microbiome can potentially lead to asthma. A study was done comparing the microbes in children’s noses when their asthma was controlled and when signs of flare-up occurred. All the kids participating had mild to moderate asthma. The samples taken during early signs of flare-up were found to have a higher amount of the bacteria linked to asthma growing. When these kid’s asthma was under control, no signs of flare-ups present, there was more beneficial bacteria. The idea of different bacterias being present when a disease or virus is present seems like common sense, however it appears to be much more complex. What causes the presence of different bacteria? How can one control what bacteria is present in their biome? There are numerous questions that are difficult to answer. Our diet, amount of physical activity, life choices, etc. can help shape our microbiome in a beneficial way. These choices can even precent certain infections/diseases.

Diet has been proven to affect how sensitive our gut microbes are to antibiotics. Antibiotics have been used to save us from deadly bacterial infections. I’m sure most people have received antibiotics at some point in their life, or they would just be immune to everything. Clostridium difficile, a disease discussed in my microbiology class, is one effect of over using antibiotics. They have been discovered to alter the gut microbiome in mice. The diet of these mice also determined the severity of these changes. Humans aren’t tolerating antibiotic treatment well. I never thought anything of it when I would be prescribed these. I just trusted my doctors and believed they would help my body better fight off different infections. This idea of antibiotics being more harmful to our microbiome than good has made me question how many times I have actually needed to go to the doctor. For example, having a common cold is something my body can fight off on it’s on, taking prescriptions can even make the symptoms last longer than usual. Did I actually need to see my doctor and be prescribed medication every time I felt sick? No. Most of the time I could guess I would be given amoxicillin, and was correct 99% of the time. Amoxicillin has been seen to reduce the amount of bacteria present in our guts and can even alter bacterial genes. I have most likely harmed my gut microbiome by taking amoxicillin when I didn’t have to. I have started to think of the severity of my symptoms before seeking treatment.

Many individuals today, including myself, have gotten the flu at some point during their lives. Did I receive the flu vaccine and still got the flu? Yes. Does this mean the flu vaccine doesn’t work for anyone? Absolutely not. In todays society, people are so quick to criticize vaccines. These are the people who have little background knowledge on diseases and probably never took a biology or microbiology class in their life. (Side note, microbiology has turned me into a germaphobe already). There is always a new strain of influenza because this virus has the ability to mutate rapidly. The vaccine is a highly educated guess about what mutation will be most prevalent in the upcoming year. It takes around six months to develop an attenuated vaccine (according to what I have learned in my microbiology class) so professionals have to make it well in advance, leaving room for error. Everyone should still get the flu vaccine! It is better for your immune system to have some prior knowledge on what is to come than if it has nothing to aid in fighting off influenza. Even though I came down with the flu one year, my symptoms would have been much more severe if I wouldn’t have received the flu shot at all. Wouldn’t you much rather have milder symptoms than those that can put you in the hospital, or worse, lead to death?

Right now the coronavirus is all anyone is talking about. Just like when the ebola crisis occurred, it was all over the news. No need to worry about the flu, right? It is so common and doesn’t everyone gets over it anyway? No. Influenza has become a huge concern during this flu season, September till mid May, killing at least 10,000 individuals in the United States alone so far. The scary part is that we are only at the peak of the flu season this year. Many are quick to say the coronavirus is more concerning, however, with this recent incline of individuals being hospitalized and dying from the flu this year alone, influenza poses a much greater threat in the United States. Precautions can be made to lower one’s risk of contracting influenza. Since it is an enveloped virus, hand sanitizers can kill of the bacteria and stop the spread of the flu. Getting the flu vaccine is another preventative measure everyone should take! Use good hygiene skills, such as washing your hands often, and make a conscious effort not to touch your face as much. Rubbing your eyes is one of the most common forms of transmission for many infections.

There has been a lot of speculation that the 2019-2020 flu vaccine might not be as effective as those in previous years. Professionals have started to believe two out of the four choices for the current flu season aren’t accurate, those two being influenza A (H3N2) and influenza B (Victoria virus). The flu vaccine can either be a four-in-one or three-in-one shot, most used in the United States being a four-in-one. These vaccines are said to protect against both influenza A viruses (H3N2 and H1N1) and both the influenza B viruses (B/ Victoria and B/Yamagata). Having to make a vaccine a year in advance and get all four strains correct seems to me like a miracle. Of course there is going to be error, no one can read the mind of this virus and tell how it will mutate. Professionals are doing the best they can in order to protect individuals from coming down with the flu. The least we can do is get the most recent flu shot and do our part in protecting ourselves. The flu shot is even free is some places, so you are asking to get the flu by not putting in the effort to get vaccinated. Any protection is better than no protection and could help save your life! I would rather be protected by at least two strains of the flu than none. This is the logic people need to have when thinking about this virus. Why would you want to get sick and potentially end up in the hospital? I for one have no time in my schedule to get sick and have to lay in bed all day resting, I’m sure many can agree with this. Long story short, GET VACCINATED!

In 1998, Andrew Wakefield and several colleagues published a research article claiming the MMR vaccine is correlated to autism and intestinal inflammation. The article was published in the Lancet journal and has since been retracted. I took the time to read the original retracted article and, in my opinion, the logic was difficult to follow. One of the main concerns I had was a lot of the data pertaining behavioral shifts were coming from the parents opinions. Parents aren’t a reliable source of information, especially when it pertains their children. They can be overprotective and believe any change, like their children no longer wanting to play all the time with their siblings, must be due to some vaccine or medication their doctors recommended their children have. Although I don’t have a full range of knowledge on the MMR vaccine and autism since I am currently learning about diseases and vaccines in class, I believe Wakefield was pulling anything he could find that supported this idea of the MMR vaccine causing autism. The points he made in the original article didn’t seem related to one another. One example is in the results section when Wakefield stated one child received the MMR vaccine at 16 months and developed recurrent antibiotic resistant and the first signs of behavioral changes (disinterest in his siblings and lack of play) at 18 months. There is no evidence at all that this vaccine is the cause of the child’s health changes. I would like to know what this child’s health was like throughout his life before receiving the vaccine, what type of environment he lives in, what he eats on a daily basis, etc. These changes could be caused by a variety of factors, not just a single vaccine. I’m sure this child has received more than the MMR vaccine at this point in his early life, so what makes Wakefield so sure that the MMR vaccine in particular is the cause?

Now some specifics on the article. There were 12 children involved in this study, ages ranging from 3-10, and only one girl. This fact alone raises some speculation. I don’t believe this is a wide array of the population and it especially doesn’t get an equal display of boys and girls. It appears this cohort was chosen based on two qualities: if they were developing normally and whether they had a loss of obtained skills. To me, this cohort isn’t reliable. If these children are already seeing changes in skills, such as speak, so early in life, there is likely a variety of factors affecting their development. Later on, at least two out of the twelve children who were reported to be normal before the study had delays in development noted before the vaccine. 10 of the 12 co-authors of the article retracted from the claims being made and now believe there are no signs the MMR vaccine caused autism due to their lack of evidence. Honestly, researchers were probably scared to state the MMR vaccine caused autism without ample amounts of evidence after everything Wakefield went through after the retraction of his article. The Lancet publicly announced they should have never published the article, his medical license was taken away, and most of his research was found to be fraudulent. One doctor claims to have found a link between 170 cases of autism caused by the MMR vaccine. He was attacked by health officials, but wished to speak out due to the large amount of evidence he believes he has found. His name was left out of the news article from The Telegraph, which makes me suspicious of how credible he can be. One of the recurrent motives I saw while looking through articles was Wakefield choosing data that verified his claims and left out any other information. Some statements in his article didn’t match the records he included, he was using false data about the conditions of the children, and not all of the twelve children were “normal” before receiving the MMR vaccine. These are just a few examples of the false acts Wakefield was caught doing. He obviously had a conflict of interest when doing his research, maybe to become famous or win a noble prize for his discovery of the cause of autism. There isn’t a specific motive I could find, but becoming praised for your research seems very likely.

In the United States today, there are countless sources on the internet trying to inform EVERYONE that the measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine is NOT harmful to your children. An article from The New York Times brings up new research on the measles virus causing detrimental affects to one’s immune system. Although humans can fight off the measles doesn’t mean we are in the clear. The measles virus kills antibody cells, leaving your child at a higher risk of infections like the flu that their own body could have helped fight. Giving your child the MMR vaccine can only help them! Without it, you are putting them at great risk for contracting the measles and therefore having a terrible immune system their bodies have been making over the years to help battle simple illnesses. There were over 700 cases of the measles in 2019 alone. Living in North Carolina, I thought the recent outbreak at UNC Chapel Hill had been the first we’ve heard of the measles for a while, coming to find out I was way off. There have been urgent calls made by the centers for disease control trying to reach the parents who refuse to get their children vaccinated. Over half of the cases being reported are from those not vaccinated. If this isn’t a sign to get your vaccinations, I don’t know what is. This isn’t the common cold… you wouldn’t want your own immune system wiped clean, so why put your child at the risk for this to happen to them? GET YOUR CHILDREN VACCINATED!

Hey! My name is Madison Weller and I am a sophomore at The University of North Carolina. I am originally from Charlotte, NC. At UNC, I am a member of the UNC All-Girl Club Cheerleading team and volunteer at the UNC hospital. In my free time I enjoy hanging out with friends, finding new coffee shops to do work at, being active, listening to music, and watching the newest episode of the bachelor with my apartment. My favorite artists at the moment are Post Malone and Brockhampton. I always enjoy discovering new music! I love to travel with friends and family, finding new, fun places to explore. I hope to travel outside of the country soon, maybe to study abroad or just have a spontaneous week trip to Europe with my friends. I also enjoy watching football and basketball, even though UNC isn’t doing well this year. I am a Steelers fan by default because my family is from Pittsburgh. I am a lover of all animals, especially my wild cat Onyx who may or may not forget about me every time I leave for college.