Hafiz ShafruddinMar 4, 2025
Aral Balkan

So, anyone up for a measles party?

https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20211112-the-people-with-immune-amnesia

Via @siobhan

#measels #immuneSystem #amnesia #USA #fascism #health

Measles: The race to understand 'immune amnesia'

Scientists have known for years that measles can alter the immune system – but the latest evidence suggests it's less of a mild tweaking, and more of a total reset.

BBC
Mar 4, 2025 at 11:50amWeb
Show threadRiderkickerMar 4, 2025

@aral @siobhan

Wait, I knew it was making a comeback here in the states. UK getting some too?

Show threaddr_barnowlMar 4, 2025

@aral @siobhan

Fuck that. Nearly killed my partner in her youth. Without the vaccination she'd have been a goner, and I'd be a loner.

Show threada fish named dog ✡️♾️Mar 4, 2025
@aral @[email protected] Don't forget we still have smallpox in labs! And also we've been firing the lab people! And also it has ~30% death rates *in populations with natural immunity* (For reference, the 1918-20 flu pandemic was ~5 percent and COVID is ~2 percent[1])! And we've stopped routine vaccination!
Long story short, smallpox is bad and I don't know why we keep it around in vials.
[1] https://informationisbeautiful.net/visualizations/the-microbescope-infectious-diseases-in-context/
Information is Beautiful

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Show threadChristian TietzeMar 4, 2025
@aral @[email protected] That's a really interesting mechanism: attaching to the immune system's cells, and thus making the body get rid of them. It's surprising that the consequences aren't worse
Show threadelyMar 4, 2025

Enter "immune amnesia", a mysterious phenomenon that's been with us for millennia, though it was only discovered in 2012. Essentially, when you're infected with #measles, your immune system abruptly forgets every pathogen it's ever encountered before – every cold, every bout of flu, every exposure to bacteria or viruses in the environment, every vaccination. The loss is near-total and permanent.

Thats wild