Natural Immunity VS. Artificial Immunity

I recently got into a debate with a medical professional about the comparison of immunity through vaccination versus naturally acquired immunity.

She referenced her medical textbook which stated that there was no difference between the two.

How could someone truly believe that?! You don’t have to be a medical doctor to understand the very distinct differences between the two...

To think that receiving a vaccine is no different then acquiring the disease itself is grossly misinformed and plain deceiving.

Naturally acquired immunity is magnificent, multifaceted, and something scientists are still learning about to this day. I would fathom to guess we will never truly be able to understand it in it’s entirety.  

Our body’s immune response is a multifaceted interaction between molecules, cells, and organs. This system is efficient and is able to protect an individual from outside threats as well as internal cells.

Let’s compare the cascade of events/effects when a person acquires ‘immunity’ naturally versus artificially.


Non-specific VS Specific

Let’s first appreciate that our immune system can be classified into two parts: non-specific (innate, immediate response) and specific (acquired or antigen specific). These parts are complex and are constantly communicating and interacting – something to be said of the entire immune system.

When a person attains an infection naturally, the virus/bacteria/fungus must penetrate through physical barriers (skin), chemicals factors (nasal secretions, saliva) and biological features (flora in the GI tract).

The non-specific components make up the majority of immune resistance.

“In the 1980’s Paola’s team at the Pasteur Institute in Paris showed that 98% of the immune response triggered at the early stages of infection is non-specific. [1] 
Nature Medicine, April 2000

When a person receives an injectable vaccine – these barriers are bypassed; none of the body’s cells, organs or molecules that are part of the non-specific response is activated in a way that would happen naturally.

Thinking we can “trick” our bodies into becoming immune to a disease without any consequences is simply bad science.

“The non-specific defense system responds immediately to protect the body from all foreign substances, whatever they are. The non-specific system reduces the workload of the specific defense system, by preventing entry and spread of micro-organisms throughout the entire body” [2] 
Essentials of Anatomy and Physiology 

Definition of Immunity

Immunity; 1. Protection against infectious disease by either specific or non-specific mechanisms. 2. Pertaining to the immune system or immune response [3]
Dorland’s Medical Dictionary

It is impartive to note that the definition of immunity used in every standard dictionary includes both non-specific and specific components.

Relying soling on a vaccine would not fall into terms of this definition.


Ports of Entry

A vaccine is injected into the muscle of an individual, directly into the bloodstream.

This is quite the opposite of what would happen naturally. The majority of pathogens enter through a person’s mouth or nose which are heavily lined with mucous membranes, packed with IgA.

“IgA is the key defender against viral infections”[4]
Essentials of Medicine

In the events triggering natural immunity, a remarkable amount of biological events occur which trigger the body’s ability in developing true immunity. This happens before the virus or bacterial come in contact with the host’s bloodstream.


Antibody Production

Vaccines sole intent is to elicit an antibody reaction from the individual. However, it is still uncertain if elevated antibody titers confer immunity or protection from disease.

Natural immunity involves many organs and systems. This complex system is completely evaded when relaying on vaccines to confer protection.

There is no relation whatsoever between antibody count and incidence of disease. The researchers found people who were highly resistant with extremely low antibody counts, and people who developed the disease who had high antibody counts.

Dr. Burton also discovered that children born with a-gamma globulinemia (inability to produce antibodies) develop and recover from measles and other infectious or contagious disease almost as quickly as other children.[5] Dr. Alec Burton, published by the British Medical Council 

Life-Long Immunity

One of the fundamental features of the immune system is its ability to respond and remember an invading virus or bacteria.

A problem occurs here with the use of vaccines because T cells (memory cells) are extremely slow learners. The most recent research shows that the ability for a T cell to remember requires many encounters instead of one initial exposure.

“It is true that natural infection almost always causes better immunity than vaccines. Whereas immunity from disease often follows a single, natural infection, immunity from vaccines occurs only after several doses.” [6]Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia

“The antigens contained in many inject able vaccines will not produce an immune response sufficient enough to confer protection against infection. Of the 23 vaccines currently in routine use, 20 are delivered by injection and stimulate only systemic immunity”  [7]Avant Immunotherapeutics

“It is dangerously misleading and indeed the exact opposite of the truth to claim that a vaccine makes us “immune’ or protects us against an acute disease, if in fact it only drives the disease deeper into the interior and causes us to harbor it chronically, with the result that our responses to it become progressively weaker and show less and less tendency to heal or resolve themselves spontaneously” [8]Dr. Robert Moskowitz, Dissent in Medicine

Conclusion

Vaccines are touted as the biggest gun in our arsenal of preventative medicine; not nutrition, sanitation or daily lifestyle choices.


In response to my discussion with the medical professional that so confidently stated there is no difference between the response a vaccine elicits versus the naturally occurring immune response, I think it is evident that the stimulation by a vaccine is not even remotely close in duplicating the response received from natural exposure.

Personally, I think we would be much more effective at evading disease if we shift our focus from disease prevention and management to enhancing health and wellbeing. The importance of nutrition, exercise and positive lifestyle choices should not be down-played by modern medicine.

It is important to embrace the concept that many diseases are normal and natural, that they may actually strengthen the immune system and benefit the body.

With the rise of vaccines and antibiotics, people in developed countries have experienced fewer childhood diseases than ever before and scientists suspect that an immune system with no serious work to do is likely to become a renegade army, attacking whatever it encounters[9]
Newsweek, 1997

Several studies have shown that the incidence of asthma and allergies tend to rise in countries where childhood immunization rates are high. This has prompted researchers to suggest that certain infections may trigger immune changes that protect children from developing asthma and allergies later. Preliminary studies have shown a protective effect of measles and infections with intestinal parasites. [10]
Science News, 1997

Infection with an organism does not necessarily mean diseases, since the immune system in most cases will be able to eliminate the infection before disease occurs. Disease occurs only when the bolus of infection is high, when the virulence of the invading organism is great or when immunity is compromised. [11]

References:

[1]Degrave W. “A B-cell mitogen from a pathogenic trypanosome is a novel eukaryotic proline racemase” Nature

[2] Marieb, E. Essentials of Anatomy and Physiology, WB Saunders, 2000, Philadelphia.

[3] Ingelfinger, F.  Dorland’s Medical Dictionary  Saunders Press, 1999.

[4] Andreoli, T. Essentials of Medicine, WB Saunders, 2001, Philadelphia.

[5] Null G. Vaccines: A Second Opinion, 2000.

[6] Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia, www.vaccine.chop.edu.

[7] Choang K Avant Immunotherapeutics.

[8] Moskowitz R. Dissent in Medicine Contemporary Books, 1985 p.142.

[9] Underwood, A. “Why Ebonie cant breathe” Newsweek,  May 26, 1997

[10] Raloff, J. “Childhood Vaccinations” Science News  Jan 25, 1997

[11 Gene Mayer, Ph.D. IMMU

NOLOGY - CHAPTER ONE. INNATE (NON-SPECIFIC) IMMUNITY. Microbiologyand Immunology On-Line. University of South Carolina School of Medicine http://pathmicro.med.sc.edu/ghaffar/innate.htm

Quotes 1-10 were gathered from Keith Wassung. “Challenging the Theory of Artificial Immunity.” Dr. Wassung is a nationally known author and speaker in the field of health education and research. http://atlaschiro.com/great_stuff/challenging_the_theory_of_artificial_immunity/