Immune-Amnesia

Jane holding baby while clinic worker gives immunization

HealthEd Connect actively supports the health workers in Malawi, Zambia, and DRC who are diligently working to encourage moms to have their babies immunized.  They've made great strides in overcoming fears and superstitions and in the last 6 months alone worked with the government clinics to immunize 11011 babies.  Great job!!

While the developing world is making great strides, the U.S. seems to be going backwards. 

An article by Nurith Aizenma in the Sept. 5 issue of Goats and Soda had the following sobering report:

There's mounting evidence that when a person is infected with measles, the virus also wipes out the immune system's memory of how to fight off all sorts of other life-threatening infections – ranging from gastro-intestinal bugs that cause diarrhea to respiratory viruses that trigger pneumonia.

"All of the sudden you end up having not just more outbreaks of measles, but you might have more outbreaks of rubella or flu or any number of other diseases," says Dr. Michael Mina, a Harvard professor who has authored some of the most ground-breaking research into this so-called "immune-amnesia" effect from measles.