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>> IS IT BETTER TO BE NATURALLY INFECTED THAN ARTIFICIALLY
INFECTED THROUGH A VACCINE?
>> I THINK THAT BOTH NATURAL INFECTION AND IMMUNIZATION
OFTEN OFFER, YOU KNOW, LIFELONG PROTECTION AGAINST DISEASE.
THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE TWO IS THE PRICE THAT ONE PAYS
FOR NATURAL INFECTION.
I MEAN, FOR EXAMPLE, BEFORE THE MEASLES VACCINE,
ALMOST ALL CHILDREN IN THIS COUNTRY GOT MEASLES.
AND WHEN THEY GOT MEASLES, MOST SURVIVED THE INFECTION.
AND WHEN THEY SURVIVED THE INFECTION,
THEY HAD IMMUNITY THAT WOULD PROTECT THEM AGAINST MEASLES
FOR THE REST OF THEIR LIFE.
BUT EVERY YEAR BEFORE VACCINATION, ABOUT 100,000 CHILDREN
WOULD BE HOSPITALIZED, AND SEVERAL THOUSAND CHILDREN
WOULD DIE FROM MEASLES.
AND, OBVIOUSLY, I MEAN, HOSPITALIZATION IS A VERY
HIGH PRICE TO PAY FOR IMMUNITY WHEN YOU CAN GET ESSENTIALLY
THE SAME IMMUNITY WITHOUT HAVING TO PAY A PRICE AT ALL
THROUGH VACCINATION.
LET'S TAKE A SPECIFIC EXAMPLE.
THERE'S A BACTERIA CALLED PNEUMOCOCCUS,
WHICH COMMONLY INFECTS INFANTS AND YOUNG CHILDREN.
>> I HAD MY CHILDREN VACCINATED WITH EVERY VACCINE THEY WERE
SUPPOSED TO GET.
I THOUGHT THEY WERE PROTECTED.
I HAD NO IDEA THAT MENINGITIS COULD DESTROY MY ENTIRE LIFE.
>> CARLA NEWBY'S SON, JACOB, DIED FROM MENINGITIS WHEN HE
WAS SIX YEARS OLD.
ONE MONTH LATER, SHE JOINED THE MENINGITIS FOUNDATION
OF AMERICA AND IS NOW ITS EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR.
>> IT WAS SIX MONTHS AFTER JACOB DIED THAT THERE WAS A VACCINE
THAT WAS AVAILABLE THAT WAS GOING TO PROTECT CHILDREN
AGAINST PNEUMOCOCCAL MENINGITIS.
MY PERSONAL MISSION IS TO ELIMINATE MENINGITIS.
I WANT TO WORK MYSELF OUT OF A JOB.
NOT MANY PEOPLE CAN SAY THAT OR WOULD SAY THAT,
BUT THAT'S MY GOAL.
I WANT TO ELIMINATE IT, AND I WON'T STOP UNTIL IT IS.
I WANT MY SON TO BE ABLE TO LOOK DOWN AND SAY,
"GOOD JOB MOM, I'M PROUD OF YOU.
YOU'RE DOING SOMETHING."
SO HE KEEPS ME GOING.
KEEPS ME DOING IT.
>> EVERY YEAR PNEUMOCOCCUS CAUSES ABOUT 1400 CASES OF
MENINGITIS, ABOUT 17,000 CASES OF BLOODSTREAM INFECTIONS,
AND ABOUT 70,000 CASES OF PNEUMONIA IN CHILDREN LESS
THAN 5 YEARS OF AGE.
SO WHAT CAN WE DO TO PREVENTIVE THIS?
WELL, THE PNEUMOCOCCAL VACCINE IS GIVEN AS A SHOT AT 2 MONTHS,
4 MONTHS, 6 MONTHS, AND AGAIN AT 12 TO 15 MONTHS OF AGE.
SO THE CHILDREN CAN GET THE ANTIBODIES THAT THEY NEED
TO PROTECT THEM AGAINST THIS SERIOUS AND OCCASIONALLY
FATAL INFECTION.