"Natural" Immunity

[Epigonos]

I have a question regarding “natural” immunity. Background information is as follows. I taught in a public high school for thirty-six years. During my first year I was sick with colds constantly. Every time one of my students came to class with a cold I got it. During the next couple of years that happened less and less. After I had taught for about three years I appeared to have developed a natural immunity and haven’t had a cold since – that is now nearly fifty years. I also haven’t had any form of the flu during that period and up until a year ago I never had a flu shot. A year ago my doctor insisted I have a flu shot.

 

Now enough background. My question is this – would taking a flu shot inhibit what appeared to be my natural immunity to various forms of the flu? If one has a “natural” immunity to various forms of the flu does taking flu shots compromise that “natural” immunity and create a dependency.

[big-n-tall]

I would suspect not. The flu vaccine is created from a dead form of the flu virus. When injected it triggers the body’s response to create antibodies. The flu vaccine isn’t some type of vaccine or therapy designed to suppress the body’s natural response to a foreign agent as it were. It helps or triggers the body to build a resistance from you getting the flu.

 

An example of something that suppresses the body’s natural functionality is aspirin. It is designed to interfere with the blood’s coagulation function. In one way this is good for some one who made need that response, but bad for someone who doesn’t, i.e. a hemophiliac.

 

When I was a child I got colds a lot. When I became a teenager into present I rarely got a cold. So like you I have built a natural immunity to most forms of the cold. I say most because the viruses that cause the flu and cold are varied. I don’t think you can be totally immune to them all, but definitely more resistant than most.

Edited June 21, 2020 by big-n-tall

[mike carey]

I agree with @big-n-tall (although as I'm not a doctor, seek your own professional advice), every exposure to a pathogen adds to the library of them that your immune system is programmed to recognise and combat. Every time you had a cold or the flu it added a bit to the range of those diseases that your immune system recognises, but they both mutate so there's always a chance that a new version will get through your defences. The flu vaccine gives you a chance to develop immunity to any new variations of flu without contracting the disease.

[orville]

I have a question regarding “natural” immunity. Background information is as follows. I taught in a public high school for thirty-six years. During my first year I was sick with colds constantly. Every time one of my students came to class with a cold I got it. During the next couple of years that happened less and less. After I had taught for about three years I appeared to have developed a natural immunity and haven’t had a cold since – that is now nearly fifty years. I also haven’t had any form of the flu during that period and up until a year ago I never had a flu shot. A year ago my doctor insisted I have a flu shot.

 

Now enough background. My question is this – would taking a flu shot inhibit what appeared to be my natural immunity to various forms of the flu? If one has a “natural” immunity to various forms of the flu does taking flu shots compromise that “natural” immunity and create a dependency.

I would see it more as a reinforcement to your "natural" shield. With age our defences decrease against microbes, including flu. Discuss options with your doctor but also trust him.

[NJF]

I have a question regarding “natural” immunity. Background information is as follows. I taught in a public high school for thirty-six years. During my first year I was sick with colds constantly. Every time one of my students came to class with a cold I got it. During the next couple of years that happened less and less. After I had taught for about three years I appeared to have developed a natural immunity and haven’t had a cold since – that is now nearly fifty years. I also haven’t had any form of the flu during that period and up until a year ago I never had a flu shot. A year ago my doctor insisted I have a flu shot.

 

Now enough background. My question is this – would taking a flu shot inhibit what appeared to be my natural immunity to various forms of the flu? If one has a “natural” immunity to various forms of the flu does taking flu shots compromise that “natural” immunity and create a dependency.

your immune system remembers the pathogen by forming specific memory B cells, which will make and release antibodies when they encounter the same pathogen again. Vaccine triggers the same process. Getting a vaccine will build up your “natural” immunity and you really should consider getting it every year.

[SirBillybob]

I thought natural immunity occurred from non-deliberate exposure to a pathogen, and degree of symptoms is irrelevant. Therefore, everybody exposed to the flu, sick or not, acquires natural immunity. You don’t not get the particular flu that leads to immunity to it. Strain relatives may have conferred natural immunity but that applies to all of us and, as I understand it, new exposure prompts new antibody development added to the immunological soup.

 

In contrast, the vaccine creates artificial immunity.

 

Therefore, the original question would more accurately be: I am not immune to flu in general but I am not susceptible to flu symptoms, so is new uptake of vaccination a liability? Answer: no. It can help prevent an index case of a new strain finding an escape route around your apparently very uniquely strong defensive system and causing sickness and/or complications, as others here suggest.

 

Why immunological imprinting varies among us is a different complex question.

 

In my limited layperson view, annual vaccination since 1976 gave me many inactivated strains that I might have otherwise acquired in their natural state, immunization thereby additively providing greater protection going forward.

Edited June 21, 2020 by SirBIllybob

[coriolis888]

 

snip

 

In my limited layperson view,

 

 

You are too modest. You are brighter than you hide.

[+ nycman]

My question is this – would taking a flu shot inhibit what appeared to be my natural immunity to various forms of the flu?

No.

[westennity]

I used to catch colds very often, but, unfortunately, my body has not developed a natural immunity. I was advised to use tremella mushroom to boost my immunity, and it really helped me. Now I get a cold only once a year and I tolerate it quite easily. All due to the fact that this mushroom contains many useful trace elements. As for vaccinations, I am categorically against them, because I think it is stupid to vaccinate myself with various diseases, even in small doses. Now it's all causing a lot of controversy, but I'm still against any vaccine.

Edited October 28, 2021 by westennity