Investigating Vaccinations

                                                             Investigating Vaccinations

            In class, we learned about different ways people try to get vaccinated. Currently, immunizations are given through shots. The serum contains dead or almost dead viruses that cause the disease. In "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Vaccinations" by , it says that once people contract smallpox and survive, they are immune to this disease. This talks about various other diseases, why it's important to get vaccinated, and what specific vaccines should be taken. It also talks about variolation. This is when some people would take infected material (secretions) from a person with a disease and rub it on a healthy person, hoping that the healthy person would become sick. They thought that contracting a disease from a sick person like this would be easier to deal with. This was a way of immunization for the Variola virus. The only problem about doing something like this is, the healthy individual is also able to contract whatever other diseases the sick person has. For example, if the donor of the infected sample has tuberculosis, there is a high chance that the healthy person can also contract this disease. Even though that the chances of people contracting diseases were high, variolation significantly lowered the death rate of small pox in those days. 

         Now that we know what the common method of vaccinating people back in the day was, it is also important to see which immunizations are important for certain people. In the website "The History of Vaccines", there is an article that gives a long list of vaccinations and who should be taking them. The site mainly talks about vaccinations. Any topic that relates to vaccines is found on the site. This article also talks about the certain virus or bacteria that causes the disease. For example, anyone who has been born after 1980 is required to get vaccinated for chickenpox (varicella). Anyone who does not provide proper records for immunizations should be vaccinated. This is crucial because this is highly contagious. Adults who do not have a good immune system are at risk. All the vaccines listed are ones that are highly common these days. 

Reading both of these materials really did help me getter a better understanding of the whole immunization process and how diverse these viruses are. None of the materials portrayed being biased. Being able to see a list portrays how we can never be fully immune to every single virus. Doing everything we can to stay healthy is crucial. 

Works Cited: Smith, Michael Joseph., and Laurie Bouck. The Complete Idiot's Guide to Vaccinations. New York: Alpha, 2009. Print.

"Vaccines for Adults." History of Vaccines RSS. N.p., 2015. Web. 25 Oct. 2015.

http://www.historyofvaccines.org/content/articles/vaccines-adults

http://www.stowetoday.com/stowe_reporter/opinion/letters_to_the_editor/vaccination-cartoon-disturbing-inaccurate/article_75c173f6-63ae-11e1-ad84-0019bb2963f4.html

Encounter

                                             Encounter with Immunology

          It is that time of year again!! Everywhere you look, you see people are sneezing, coughing, and having all that good stuff to share with everyone. It's flu season so people are also getting vaccinated. I work at a doctors office and I see patients that come in for their flu shots. These patients are getting their shots so they won't have to get sick this season. The flu shots contain the killed or highly weakened organism that produces immunity in our bodies against that organism. The fact that people have to get this shot every season is because the virus mutates and so they need the new shot that produces antibodies for the new virus. It is pretty cool how viruses are able to change themselves and mutate but not cool for the person who is infected. Every single day, our body comes in contact with so many viruses and bacteria. Our immune systems work so hard everyday to keep our bodies healthy. I thought this was highly appropriate for my immunology class after we learned about vaccines and how the body reacts to antigens.  

Works Cited: https://www.offthemark.com/cartoons/immunology

         Reflecting on Immunology                

               Immunology is a very interesting topic. When you think of taking a class called immunology, you would most likely assume that it is going to only be about the immune system. The main focus of this class is the immune system but it is amazing to see how our whole health really focuses on our immune system. When we get vaccines, we do not realize how these vaccines are created and what they are actually doing. Scientists are supposed to study every aspect of the antigens that enter our bodies. How they react to each individual is something pretty amazing as well. There are so many viruses and bacteria that can enter our body and trying to figure out how every single one of them look and what they exactly do would take a very long time. I realized this when I was doing a lab this past week. We had to use anti-bovine, horse albumin, bovine albumin and anti-horse. Even though these were only a couple things, I realized that there are so many things that we could have used. Being in class this past week made me realize that there are so many things that interact with our immune system. It is fascinating yet scary to know that there can be so many things that are capable of hurting our bodies, but also things that can help our bodies as well. 

 

                                                             Reflecting on Immunology

              Immunology is a great course to learn about how our bodies battle the worlds that are unseen. Our bodies are able to fight and defend itself from the dangers that are naked to the human eye. But does this have anything to do with neurosurgery? In case you are wondering, my goal is to become a neurosurgeon but I am also taking an immunology course. Initially, I thought that taking this course would be beneficial to my medical degree as a whole. After a couple weeks in this class, I realized that the information that is taught is quintessential to my career choice. I learned about how the body is able to fight off invaders and exactly what cells are used for what purpose. Our body is composed of many cells and knowing the difference between the cells is something that everyone in the medical field should know. Even though this class is mainly focused on how our body fights back, it's important to know what is going on in the body before you operate on any part. The pace of the class is perfect because it gives you time to learn what the teacher is teaching you at your own pace. Even doing things like group work and drawing in the class makes the subject easier to comprehend. Using worksheets to help understand the concepts we learn makes it really easy. This class is a great class to take. Every time you learn something new, you are just left wondering how amazing our bodies were made. I can't wait to see what else I will get to learn in this class! :)

Works Cited: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/2462974771322778/