#15 Super Vaccine Could Eliminate Flu – from website

I’ve always found articles and news relating to medicine pretty interesting and this specific article talks about the creation of a super vaccine. I think that if they could create a vaccine that would completely protect you from Influenza A viruses that would be a big achievement.

They say that two shots would be able to protect you for many years and that the vaccines would be delivered throughout your body in different ways. Which I assume would help it be more effective. They’ve done testing on animals and such and it seems to be successful, because the body was able to make the necessary antibodies which disabled the virus. So since the experiments have been successful they’re starting to test it out on humans.

I know that lots of people are always hesitant about getting the yearly flu shot, I’m not a big fan of vaccines either lol but I think that once this super vaccine becomes, you know, perfected then I guess people would be more willing to get it if it would protect you for many years and doesn’t have negative side effects. Seems like they’ve made good progress, but I don’t think that this will be available to the public all that soon.

That's true, there are many people who refuse to get their vaccines, simply because they are afraid of the side effects, or they just feel like they are healthy enough and can protect themselves with what they already have in their body, and so they do not want to be dependent on the yearly vaccines. If the creation of a super vaccine is tested on humans and the result is positive, and no side effects are found, then I'm sure many people will accept the idea of this new vaccine and get the shot. However, to perfect a vaccine isn't that easy, so I won't be expecting the vaccine to be available anytime soon. A large amount of money will be used in this experiment, so I hope there will be some success in this "super vaccine". Also, a super vaccine might mean there could be some more undiscovered viruses coming our way, so that's no good. =/

We are lucky to have researchers/scientists to develop new vaccines, which would increase our protection toward viruses. However, when this super vaccine is available, I will be having second thoughts of whether or not to have it, since you could be risking your life. You never know what could go wrong!

Dude!!I think that a "super flu" vaccine would be FANTASTIC!!It would be great not having to worry, and freak out every single time someone right next to you coughed or sneezed. It would be extremely beneficial to everyone. People would feel better, bosses would be happier because people would phone in sick less.... But, I agree with you. I don't think that it will be available to the public soon. I think that a "super flu" vaccine would be good. But, I think that it may give people a false sense of security. In the article on the website, it says that "two shots of it could provide years of protection from every influenza A virus." But "years" is very general. "Years" could mean two years, three years, four years.... How long would you actually be protected? The virus could adapt, and people could think that because they got the "super flu" shots, that they would still be protected, when they actually were not. Farmers use pesticides and herbicides to protect their crops. The pesticides and herbicides work for a while, but eventually the pests adapt, and are even worse than before. What if by creating a "super flu" vaccine, we end up with an even worse flu strain? ....But, only time will tell....

I think that it's impressive, and great that they are looking for a vaccine , but I think that this "super flu" shot (2 shots,) will just be the beginning. I think that there will be many "super flu" shots created over time, and that if people want to totally be protected from the flu, they are going to have to stay on their toes, and try to always be one step ahead of the virus. (Because we all know how sneaky the flu is, and how much it sucks to be sick. :p )

This looks like Tai from Digimon. :p ----> ....the hair....

a super vaccine sounds like an amazing idea however you have to realise that viruses evolve and thats the reason why we keep getting different viruses because our body is used to the old look of the virus but once it evolves its like a new element to the body now if we get these vaccins yeah it might help us for now but when the virus evolves into somthing beyond what the vaccine can handle i think it will be too much for scientists to form another that would defend against the virus. if they do end up making this vaccine availible i think it would be ok for now but not in the long run. i think the people that are worried about getting this vaccine are thinking about the movie i am legend haha

I think a super vaccination would be great, however, no matter how advanced our medicine continues to get, there will always be other medical concerns growing around the world. There is a bacterium called a "superbug" which carries several resistant genes through genetic mutation - to the extent that it is resistant to our antibiotics. There has been cases around the world where these have appeared, and are likely to get worse in the future. This is just one of the problems the future holds with regards to medicine. So we may get rid of the "flu" but i can predict a new group of bacteria mutating into something perhaps even worse than the flu. Bacteria will grow at the same rate if not faster than our medical advancements, which worries me for the future.

Article on superbugs, scary stuff
http://www.naturalnews.com/030503_bacteria_superbug.html

Thats exactly right taylor i agree with you 100% even think of the superbugs becoming even more resiliant to vaccines! i think we should slow down on the vaccines and try to find a way to kill viruses to a point were they cant replicate and evolve so in that was they will stay at the stage they were killed at. this is scary stuff i hope we can get some advances in science that can prevent mutations.

Indeed it is scary, and it could also become a harsh reality sooner than we expect. Im sure scientists are doing as much as they can to prevent these sorts of things, but that often isnt enough. Nature works faster than we do

So if we always have bacteria growing faster than we can handle, where does it end? Will we always be trying to win an impossible fight? And when will it eventually catch up to us, despite our efforts? I think there is a lot to say in how far medicine and vaccines have come. A lot of the diseases that caused such a great concern hundreds of years ago are almost non-existent to us because of the vaccines we receive and the more extensive knowledge we've learned. But, again, more diseases keep arising. After finding the cure for cancer or Alzheimer's, what is next?

I believe the media plays a big role in how we imagine the future in medicine. In the movies, there is always some disease that wipes everyone out and turns people into zombies because of the crazy side effects (Resident Evil, anyone?), and that creates a mindset for people. We're skeptical. And why shouldn't we be? Things have gone wrong before; we need more information on things. Whenever we hear something that will benefit us (like the super vaccine), we find ourselves asking, "OK, so... what are the side-effects?" In the article, they mentioned they tested it on animals and are starting to test it on humans. I would be really interested in what the results would be. Because I AM a skeptic, and I want to know what precautions and side-effects would happen if this came out to the general public.

Quote :

So if we always have bacteria growing faster than we can handle, where does it end? Will we always be trying to win an impossible fight?

It likely won't end. Unless there is some sort of miracle breakthrough in science where we could destroy most harmful bacteria, which is highly unlikely, then it wont end. I say most because getting rid of all harmful bacteria on earth is near, if not, completely impossible. Consider the nature of bacteria - they spread and multiply at rates which cannot be controlled. Also if we were to even get rid of most 'harmful' bacteria, the helpful bacteria which remains could just as easily mutate into harmful bacteria all over again.

That's a really interesting statement: trying to win an impossible fight. I don't think anything is impossible, but do think that this will take years and years and it may never be perfected. Bacteria may be small but they can use things like ligase and endonucleases to thier advantage allowing them to mutate and adapt rapidly. Weird genetic transformations cause them to be extrememly difficult to study and I think that's wht scares alot of people into not wnating to get vaccines. I know that scares me alot!

I agree with Wanas, the production of this super vacine must be done with caution and the scientists must take their time because if they come out with this soon, people will consider thepossibility that it's useless and can do harm. And if they do rush it, it actually may cause harm and can hurt a lot of people. I know it would take me a lot of courage just to bee in the same room as the vacine, let alone receiving it - as we'll as a lot of other people. And if we went through all of that just to be induced with more hurtful substances, it could break many peoples trust with medicine.

I like how you guys mentioned things like "trying to win an impossible fight," "I am legend," and "Resident evil." You really got me thinking, and I agree. It kind of seems like that now, that with how things evolve, and adapt and change. Hopefully the world doesn't turn into a place where a disease totally turns everyone into zombies. That would suck. But even though it seems like the viruses have an edge up on us, I think it's great that people are trying to do something about it. You never know. Maybe we "cool kids" in physics, could get together with our "cool friends" in bio and chem one day, and save the world. That would be nice.

The whole problem that we have to realize is that single cell organisms evolve at an incredibly fast rate compared to multicelled organisms. Every time we create a stronger vaccine or a stronger antibacterial soap we kill of the weakest bacteria but leave the strong ones to reproduce. It's a vicious circle and we just keep digging ourselves into a deeper grave. If we really want to become healthier we should go back to basics. Forget all the antibacterial stuff and just use regular hand soap. It may be a huge change for your body as there will be more bacteria than before but then your immune system will strengthen and nature will take over. Another problem with super vaccines is the way that they work. Vaccines work by infecting people with a less harmful strain of a virus so that our bodies know how to combat the full strain when it hits. But super vaccines could overwhelm our bodies with so many viruses that they have the opposite effect, but who knows. For now I'm just going to stick with washing my hands and getting my annual check-up.

Although it would be great to have a vaccine to completely protect you from something like Influenza A, I think many of these vaccines and drugs are very risky. Unless the vaccines are able to completely, prevent you from catching the illness, or are able to completely kill all of the bacterial that you are infected by (which would be very difficult), then the consequences of these actions can be deadly for future generations. As it has been said, many antibacterial products such as hand sanitizer and hand soaps leave the more strong bacteria to thrive and reproduce. This is a major problem, as these bacteria will then move on to make even stronger bacteria. The rate that they are able to reproduce is unfathomable, which means that the amount of strong bacteria is increasing exponentially.

The article that Taylor posted on superbugs, is proof of how dangerous the bacteria that we are surrounded by could get. If doctors need to treat strengthened infections like this repeatedly, they will only get worse!