Comment by permo-w
2 years ago
> which is really only 'stronger' at defending against the disease that you just caught!
if this was the case, we wouldn’t have the smallpox vaccine, or many others. not to mention the massive increase in general disease susceptibility when children aren’t exposed to these agents at a young age
I don't understand what you are saying, because it appears to not follow what I stated. (Edit: Okay, I've got it now.)
A chickenpox infection as a child will indeed help prevent against future chickenpox infections (which, for this particular virus, are indeed worse when first infected as an adult). It may have some slight efficacy against other herpesviruses, too, or it could enable a stronger disease from a related virus due to antibody-dependent enhancement. But more likely a chickenpox infection, and related acquired immune responses, will do jack-all with respect to any other infectious agent.
> more likely a chickenpox infection, and related acquired immune responses, will do jack-all with respect to any other infectious agent
why is this?
Because most viruses differ enough that they don't have similar recognition motifs (antigens). Sometimes a lucky person will get a "universal" response to an entire viral clade, but at some point the clades just diverge enough that they can't offer protection against each other.
If you have to get infected with a pox virus, cowpox or chickenpox are good ones to get infected with. But it's better not to get any, if you have the option.
2 replies →
> The smallpox vaccine is the first vaccine to have been developed against a contagious disease. In 1796, British physician Edward Jenner demonstrated that an infection with the relatively mild cowpox virus conferred immunity against the deadly smallpox virus. Cowpox served as a natural vaccine until the modern smallpox vaccine emerged in the 20th century. ...
> The term vaccine derives from the Latin word for cow, reflecting the origins of smallpox vaccination.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smallpox_vaccine