Anti-vaxxers are more dangerous than you thought

Posted 9 May 2015 by Matt Young

"Measles vaccine protects against other deadly diseases," proclaims an article in ScienceInsider. In reality, the protection is indirect: Getting measles disposes you to getting other potentially fatal diseases over the next several years. Evidently, measles, unlike, for example, whooping cough, not only weakens your immune system but also makes it "forget," so you may even contract a disease that you already had and thought you were immune to. (As an aside, though it was supposedly impossible, I contracted mumps twice, as diagnosed both times by a physician. I now wonder whether I had contracted measles between the two cases of mumps.) As described in the ScienceInsider article, Michael Mina and colleagues at the Emory University School of Medicine demonstrated a correlation between a child's getting measles and subsequently dying of other diseases. Specifically, they showed that children who survive measles are especially vulnerable to contracting a fatal illness for an average of approximately 2.5 years after the measles infection. The result held true both before and after the widespread use of the measles vaccine. The researchers found no such vulnerability among children who had contracted whooping cough, so the result is apparently specific to measles. Vaccination had practically eliminated measles from the United States by 2000. Since 2013 or so, we have experienced hundreds of cases, largely if not entirely due to the anti-vaccination movement (see, for example, MMR vaccine controversy, which details the fraudulent but influential paper by Andrew Wakefield). Little did we know that the anti-vaxxers have put children in danger of contracting not only measles (a serious disease on its own, incidentally), but also other serious and potentially fatal diseases as well.

11 Comments

Just Bob · 9 May 2015

Somehow, these comments from the BW seem appropriate:

Yeah, but âSoylent Green is stupid people!â just wouldnât have the same dramatic impact.

Besides, I think stupid people would be hard to digest. Probably taste bad, too.

For myself, I find another Charlton Heston line fitting for those who neglect or refuse to vaccinate their own kids, thereby putting them and others in danger:

YOU MANIACS! YOU BLEW IT UP! AH, DAMN YOU! GOD DAMN YOU ALL TO HELL!

paulc_mv · 9 May 2015

This is somewhat tangential, but being able to "forget" antibodies could have major applications, such as in transplant tolerance, where a history of blood transfusions and previous transplants can increase the likelihood of rejecting a new transplant.

So what is measles doing in this case? It seems almost impossible. I know you can irradiate the immune system and replace it, but I have never heard of editing out immunities. Do people understand the mechanism in measles?

Mike Elzinga · 9 May 2015

It seems that we can, in principle, find the means to inoculate against many diseases; and, with proper public health standards and policies, generate herd immunity to disease by educating the public about all sorts of health issues.

However, in practice, it appears that we can't seem to generate herd immunity to stupidity, ignorance, and malicious mischief when it comes to any such public policies.

There doesnât appear to be any type of "vaccine" for virulent stupidity and demagoguery in a democratic society where a solitary, post-modernist demagogue is free, within a few months, to pass him/herself off as an "expert" of equal weight to thousands of experienced experts who have been developing their expertise through direct experience and research for well over a century.

Stupidity and demagoguery will probably kill off most of humanity long before microbes and viruses do. I don't know how to judge whether or not that would be better for the planet.

Yardbird · 9 May 2015

Mike Elzinga said: Stupidity and demagoguery will probably kill off most of humanity long before microbes and viruses do. I don't know how to judge whether or not that would be better for the planet.

Also greed and arrogance. The worst part is the reverence that awful people have for other awful people.

W. H. Heydt · 9 May 2015

paulc_mv said: This is somewhat tangential, but being able to "forget" antibodies could have major applications, such as in transplant tolerance, where a history of blood transfusions and previous transplants can increase the likelihood of rejecting a new transplant. So what is measles doing in this case? It seems almost impossible. I know you can irradiate the immune system and replace it, but I have never heard of editing out immunities. Do people understand the mechanism in measles?

Better fix for "Rh disease".

grendelsfather · 9 May 2015

Better fix for âRh diseaseâ.

Or any autoimmune disease or allergy: Type I diabetes, multiple sclerosis, celiac disease, food allergies - the list is virtually endless. We should thank the anti-vaxxers for bringing this interesting and potentially greatly beneficial approach to our attention. As soon as we figure out how to capitalize on this observation, maybe Matt could revise the title of the post to "Anti-vaxxers are not totally worthless wankers."

harold · 10 May 2015

paulc_mv said: This is somewhat tangential, but being able to "forget" antibodies could have major applications, such as in transplant tolerance, where a history of blood transfusions and previous transplants can increase the likelihood of rejecting a new transplant. So what is measles doing in this case? It seems almost impossible. I know you can irradiate the immune system and replace it, but I have never heard of editing out immunities. Do people understand the mechanism in measles?

There's a lot of research on measles and immunosuppression - http://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&q=measles+immunosuppression&btnG=&as_sdt=1%2C14&as_sdtp= Clinically, a dream we are still struggling with would be more selective immunosuppression; ability to shut down pathological or undesirable immune responses while leaving the immune system more competent. A dream we are achieving is to be able to suppress the immune system with fewer side effects (but immunosuppressed people are still at high risk of infections and certain cancers).

Just Bob · 10 May 2015

harold said:
paulc_mv said: This is somewhat tangential, but being able to "forget" antibodies could have major applications, such as in transplant tolerance, where a history of blood transfusions and previous transplants can increase the likelihood of rejecting a new transplant. So what is measles doing in this case? It seems almost impossible. I know you can irradiate the immune system and replace it, but I have never heard of editing out immunities. Do people understand the mechanism in measles?
There's a lot of research on measles and immunosuppression - http://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&q=measles+immunosuppression&btnG=&as_sdt=1%2C14&as_sdtp= Clinically, a dream we are still struggling with would be more selective immunosuppression; ability to shut down pathological or undesirable immune responses while leaving the immune system more competent. A dream we are achieving is to be able to suppress the immune system with fewer side effects (but immunosuppressed people are still at high risk of infections and certain cancers).

And... let me guess... an evolutionary perspective is very useful in such pursuits. For instance, recognizing that we are descended from nonhuman ancestors, and related to all extant species, suggests studying the immune systems of more 'primitive' species (sharks, say, or crocodiles) for mechanisms or substances, or pathways that could be of use to us (perhaps reactivated).

Yardbird · 10 May 2015

Is there any indication that getting measles can reduce immunity from vaccines for other diseases?

eric · 11 May 2015

Yardbird said: Is there any indication that getting measles can reduce immunity from vaccines for other diseases?

IANA biologist but I would guess this would be the case. Vaccines just do what exposure to the disease does - they cause your immune system to produce antibodies for the disease. If measles suppresses antibody production, then its going to affect diseases you were vaccinated for the same way it might have affected Matt after he got the mumps.

harold · 11 May 2015

eric said:
Yardbird said: Is there any indication that getting measles can reduce immunity from vaccines for other diseases?
IANA biologist but I would guess this would be the case. Vaccines just do what exposure to the disease does - they cause your immune system to produce antibodies for the disease. If measles suppresses antibody production, then its going to affect diseases you were vaccinated for the same way it might have affected Matt after he got the mumps.

This is almost certainly the case. Many forms of immunosuppression decrease ability to be effectively vaccinated.