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Certainly, a balanced diet, regular physical activity and restful sleep remain essential to our well-being, both in terms of physical health and mental health. However, immunization through vaccines transcends these healthy habits, providing a valuable defense against disease. Better than that even; no other method can compete with the unique ability of vaccines to strengthen our immune system.
You can gorge on vitamins, minerals, probiotics, plant extracts, antioxidant supplements, or even superfoods, but nothing n&# 8217;will never equal vaccination to protect you against pathogens.
The ultimate training for your immune defenses< /h2>
Like a high-level athlete carefully preparing for competitions, our immune system requires rigorous trainingto deal with illnesses or illnesses. Like Olympic athletes refining their techniques, our natural defenses must be carefully shaped. This is precisely where vaccines come in, playing a major role in this immune sharpening.
Indeed, these expose our cells to harmless versions of pathogens, thus orchestrating a form of dress rehearsal . Most vaccines work in this way, apart from some such as viral vector vaccines (against the Ebola virus for example), vaccines against toxins (example: tetanus) or vaccines based on sub- units or recombinant proteins (like that against hepatitis B).
This simulation allows our organismto acquire an immune memory, which we can imagine as a library of defensive strategies. Thus prepared, our body can react more quickly and more effectively to real threats. Without this preparation, our body would find itself forced to develop its defenses in an emergency, and would therefore be much more vulnerable. This is why even apparently robust individuals can succumb to illnesses that are preventable through vaccination.
The risks of non-vaccination
According to WHO figures: “ Every year, vaccination prevents 3.5 to 5 million deaths due to diseases such as diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough, influenza and measles ”. Despite the scientific consensus around vaccination, UNICEF estimates that even today “ […] Ceach year, some 25 million children do not are not receiving life-saving vaccines, leaving them exposed to devastating and completely preventable diseases “.
Illnesses like the flu, for example, continue to kill thousands of people each year in France. Mostly fragile people such as the elderly, pregnant women and people suffering from chronic illnesses. However, there are exceptions, such as that of young Austin Booth, a healthy 17-year-old who quickly succumbed to the flu in 2011 due to lack of immunization.
There is always a risk, even minimal, for any unvaccinated individual of developing a serious form of the flu. The data about this virus is compelling: flu vaccination reduces the risk of death in healthy individuals by two-thirds.
Influenza is obviously not the only pathology for which vaccination still remains essential: diphtheria, measles, whooping cough, pneumococcus, etc. We are not “superhumans”, our natural immunity is not a sufficient barrier. Pathogens evolve and can easily evade it and some diseases require a specific and rapid immune response, which our body may not be able to generate quickly enough to prevent the progression of the infection.
Evolution has not given us a perfect immune system; she shaped it so that it remained effective in an environment where pathogens were much less numerous and varied than today< /strong>. They evolve much faster than us humans. Viruses and bacteria can reproduce very quickly, form large groups of populations and adapt very efficiently to their environmental conditions.
The indisputable evidence of & #8217;effectiveness of vaccines
The effectiveness of vaccines today no longer needs to be proven. Over the past five decades, these have saved 154 million people from potentially fatal diseases(see graph below). Unlike many health trends whose effectiveness remains to be proven, vaccines benefit from exceptionally rigorous evaluation and surveillance protocols. Each formula is subjected to a battery of relentless clinical trials before obtaining approval from the competent authorities.
Thereafter, its use is subject to constant vigilance, thus guaranteeing its long-term safety and effectiveness. Public health organizations such as the WHO and the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) play a leading role in this surveillance protocol.
Graph showing the cumulative number of deaths prevented by vaccination, expressed in millions, since the start of the Expanded Programme on Immunization in 1974 (Dark red: measles, Light red: tetanus, Light gray: pertussis, Dark gray: tuberculosis, Light blue: other pathogens, Blue: Haemophilus influenzae type B, Dark blue: poliomyelitis © A. Shattock, H. Johnson, So Yoon Sim, et al.
Side effects, however, are generally mild and short-lived, most often limited to mild pain at the injection site or temporary fatigue. Serious complications remain extreme rarity (even for mRNA vaccines, such as those from Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna) thus contrasting sharply with many alternative practices whose safety and efficacy have never been scientifically demonstrated. Homeopathy, energy healing, detox diets, etc. The time for bone-setters' remedies has long since passed.
- Vaccines are an essential pillar for training your immune system.
- Non-vaccination still carries tangible risks.
- There is a firmly established scientific consensus around the unparalleled effectiveness of vaccines.
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