Nation-wide Flu Vaccine Ban for Children Under 5

[Little Chicken]

They are active but they are weakened viruses, called attenuated, and should only cause infection in those with severely weakened immune systems. The old oral polio vaccine was like this which is why they used to recommend not giving it to someone if there was a person with a weakened immune system in close contact with them. Most vaccines these days contain just part of the infectious organism called an antigen which your body then makes antibodies against. I think they make anti-venoms the way you describe Raupe. You can get antibodies given to you in certain circumstances (chickenpox immunoglobulin, anti-D injections for example), but you have to be exposed to the problem first for them to have any effect as they "mop up" an already present infection or problem, they will not give you the long term protection that immunisation will by letting you produce your own antibodies for years to come. Unfortunately some viruses do not produce an immune reaction if given when they are dead. There is conjecture that the reason some children who are fully immunised against whooping cough are getting the disease is because the acellular version does not produce as strong an immune reaction as the old vaccine which gave the whole (dead) bacteria in the dose. This version of the vaccine though produced a lot of side effects which was the reason why it was replaced.

The reason they don't like to immunise you when you have an illness is because your body is already fighting an infection, why introduce another one then?

While these reactions have been horrible and must have been devastating for the parents to watch, WA started recommending flu vaccines for the under fives after some healthy children died of the flu only 2-3 years ago. I agree, it is very confusing and a very hard decision to make. I am still trying to decide whther to get myself and DD vaccinated for the swine flu.