Here we go again... NaturalNews is spreading more FUD, this time about the dengue vaccine. Researchers from Oregon State University and Clemson University attempted to PREDICT the effect of the dengue fever vaccine on dengue infection patterns, and stated that based on a mathematical model they created, there is a POSSIBILITY that a dengue vaccine could result in a TEMPORARY increase in the incidence of the disease that are 2-3x higher than the current level. This was the exact quote : "Our analysis suggests that if we develop and widely use a vaccine for dengue fever, there may later be spikes in the incidence of the disease that are two to three times higher than its normal level," researcher Jan Medlock said. What did NaturalNews say? -> Researchers openly admit dengue vaccine would cause 7-fold spike in infections Seriously, David Gutierrez, is it that difficult to copy and paste? How did a 2-3x higher spike become a 7-fold spike? Or did you decide that a 2-3x spike didn't sound "click-baity" enough? Do you not understand the difference between "could" and "would"? Instead of spending your time cherry-picking and then twisting comments in scientific studies, why not spend a little time actually reading up on the subject? Dengue incidence has increased 30X over the last 50 years. Thanks to global warming, it has even spread to countries or regions where it was never prevalent. Current dengue vaccines being tested are of the LIVE ATTENUATED type. That means the vaccines contain greatly-weakened versions of the actual dengue viruses. It's no different from getting bitten by an Aedes aegypti mosquito, albeit one that's infected with greatly-weakened dengue viruses. All the vaccine does is introduced a small sample of those four serotypes to trigger your body's immune system into producing antibodies against them, thereby protecting you against an actual infection by the actual "full strength" dengue virus. So, is it likely for the live attenuated dengue vaccine to cause symptoms of dengue fever? Certainly. After all, the vaccine uses the actual virus to launch a mild dengue reaction to trigger your body's defences. Naturally, you could experience some mild symptoms of dengue fever. When that happens, doctors cannot be sure if it's just a mild and expected reaction to the vaccine, or an actual dengue attack that was made milder by the vaccine. So it would get logged in as a dengue fever case. That's why if a dengue vaccine is introduced, it will likely result in a spike of cases. However, that does not mean it causes "dengue fever", as we know it. It is just our body's reaction to the greatly-weakened dengue viruses. Now, the same article argues for "natural immunity", claiming that 80% of the children in Thailand have already been infected by dengue TWICE, making them immune by the time they turn 11. The problem with that claim is that : a) In the worst year (1987), Thailand only recorded 174,000 dengue fever cases. Every year, about 300,000 to 400,000 Thai babies are born. Even if only children were infected by dengue every year at that highest recorded rate, there is no possible way for 80% of Thai children to be infected TWICE by the time they are 11 years old. b) There are 5 serotypes or strains of the dengue virus. Infection with one particular serotype grants immunity against that serotype but only short-term immunity against the other serotypes. So even if all of those kids were infected with two different serotypes, that wouldn't grant them immunity against the other 3 serotypes in the long-term. c) Roughly 2.5% of those infected will die from dengue haemorraghic fever or dengue shock syndrome, particularly if the patient had already been infected with a DIFFERENT serotype. So recommending that kids be infected "naturally" would put them at much higher risk of dying from dengue. Now, if anyone of you truly believe that natural immunity works, why are you trying so very hard not to get infected? Why not just have dengue parties where you "innoculate" yourselves with your choice of Aedes mosquitoes while having a bottle of red wine, and repeat that until you have full immunity (or die trying)?
