The fall season is bringing the usual uptick of upper respiratory infections. Augustana College Professor of Biology Dr. Dara Wegman-Geedey says everyone should get their updated flu shots.
Vaccines were first introduced in the late 18th century when Edward Jenner inoculated a man against smallpox. Since then, the advancements of vaccines have grown tremendously. Wegman-Geedey noted that human immune system is incredibly powerful, but that it has to go through an infection before the body can adapt and form memory for future protection. However, by using vaccines, that initial infection, which could harm a person in a variety of ways, can be avoided altogether.
“Medical researchers have figured out that if you can introduce a dead or weakened pathogen or part of a pathogen in a vaccine, you can teach the immune system what to look for. So it's almost as though you've been exposed before that first time you actually meet the live pathogen,” Wegman-Geedey said.
She states that an immunization can bring noticeable effects, however it’s a sign of a normal immune system response.
“You might get a little rundown, a little achy, or a little tired, because your body is using energy to fight off the virus components in the vaccine. But the vaccine has helped you form memory B and T cells so that you don't actually get sick from a second exposure,” Wegman-Geedy said.
The production of annual flu vaccines is because upper respiratory viruses constantly mutate and the influenza virus is particularly well suited to mutate rapidly. Wegman-Geedey also explains there is a difference between flu vaccines depending on a person’s age.
“We know that our bodies become less effective in all kinds of ways as we age. So people get gray hair because our cells aren't as good as making the pigment proteins in our hair,” Wegman-Geedey said. “We get saggy skin because our collagen isn't produced quite as effectively as we age. Our immune systems also don't work quite as well as we age. So the flu vaccines for different age groups, especially for older folks, are a bit higher dosage to stimulate our immune systems to recognize and respond to the pathogen. Flu vaccines are produced to work with our immune systems. So for a child or an infant or somebody younger, their immune systems are ready to recognize what's in the normal dose flu vaccine and respond. Research has shown that a higher dosage of that heat killed virus or viral subunit in a flu vaccine is needed for older folks to respond and form memory cells because our immune systems are starting to wane.”
For younger and healthier people, the idea of getting yearly flu vaccines may feel unnecessary. However, Wegman-Geedey stressed the importance of everyone getting vaccinated by offering a historical example from the 1918 influenza pandemic.
“It was the young and healthy people who died mostly in that pandemic because immune systems of young and healthy people can respond with a lot of vigor, a lot of intensity,” Wegman-Geedey said. “Even today, young, healthy people can still die from the flu because their immune systems may over-respond. Something I teach in my immunology class is that oftentimes when people get really sick from the flu and die from it, or when people die from COVID-19, it's not because of what the virus was specifically doing to their body, it was because their immune systems overresponded. And that's again why sometimes young and healthy people are much more severely affected than older people. It just depends on the virus, it depends on how each individual’s body responds.”
Cases of measles and whooping cough, once thought to be a thing of the past, instead are spreading more often in the United States, especially as they can be transmitted via airborne particles. Wegman-Geedey said that the internet leads to easy access to information people already agree with, which increases information silos and leads to confirmation bias. She says Americans have low science literacy and the benefits of vaccines being in use for decades are creating a false belief that these diseases are a thing of the past.
“I think that people have forgotten just how deadly measles, polio, and other infectious diseases are. We've lived through a relatively easy time in the past 60 years as far as viral infections. Not many people die, not many children die of infectious diseases because of vaccines,” Wegman-Geedey said. “So people don't remember what it was like. My own father was one of 12 children and three of his siblings died within the first year of their lives because of childhood diseases. So I think that maybe we've just been so distanced from it that people don't realize that these diseases are out there and certainly able to cause many problems. They've just been under control because of vaccines.”
She says people can learn more about these viruses and ways to reduce exposure by visiting The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) website or the American Medical Association’s website as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is currently impacted by the government shutdown. Wegman-Geedey also recommends a newsletter called Your Local Epidemiologist.
Residents without insurance or underinsured can contact the Rock Island and Scott County Public Health Department to inquire about eligibility for free flu and COVID-19 shots. Pharmacies and doctor offices are also offering the vaccines.
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