Answer for question 4248.

[xiphias]

[Error: unknown template qotd]*Sigh* First, vaccines have no correlation to autism whatsoever. Second, even if they DID, autism is way better than measles or mumps. I know too many successful people whose autism is actually a benefit to their research and their work to be scared by it. Sure, autistic people have some challenges that other people don't, but, well, who doesn't?

As far as what vaccines I'd like to see developed, the only real answer is HIV. It's orders of magnitude more widespread than any other deadly viral disease.

Well, if anybody could come up with category-based vaccines, that'd be cool, too -- one vaccine that protected you against the entire CATEGORY of influenza viruses, that would be cool. And a vaccine against the entire category of rhinoviruses would be convenient.

Comments

[kirstennnnnn.livejournal.com]

I just got a blurb from one of my medical emails that they think they have found a vaccine that blocks HIV transmission in monkeys. As for the categorical vaccines...we'll have to do something about those pesky random mutations first! ;)

[xiphias.livejournal.com]

The question with categorical vaccines would be figuring out what the heck the category MEANS. I mean, what IS an influenza as opposed to something else? Is there some sort of thing that they all have in common that makes it the flu? If so, is there something about THAT that you could attack?

What do rhinoviruses have in common? Not really a heck of a lot, as far as I can tell. From what a friend told me, if it's a virus that gets into your body by permeating the mucus membranes, and then your body responds to it by activating your mucus membranes and raising your body temperature to try to block it and cook it out, that's a rhinovirus. So I'm not sure how you'd try to fight a cold in general.

Yeah, so for THAT dream, you're not even as FAR as having to worry about the mutations -- they've ALREADY got nothing in common with each other. :)

[metahacker.livejournal.com]

"Do you personally believe"

AUGH.

AUGH.

Wrong paradigm. Doesn't matter what I personally believe. It matters rather a lot more what the actual facts of the matter are.

[bluepapercup]

I agree, a vaccine for HIV, particularly a low-cost one, would be an amazing boon, especially for places with high male-to-female transmission rates and the subsequent infection of gestating fetuses.

[my-name-is-anna.livejournal.com]

Autism is a severe disability for a lot of people who have it. It is not easier than measles or mumps (generally short childhood illnesses).

Autism is a disability, not a quirk that enhances people's careers, although of course there are some talented people with autism who benefit from some traits of the condition regarding the work they do. However, these tend to people whose communication/social/other abilities have been less damaged by their autism, and most people with autism are unable to work.

This is not me saying vaccines = autism. I am replying to you as the argument that autism is just a quirky trait really upsets me. I've had both measles and mumps, they are not worst than a life-changing disability.

[xiphias.livejournal.com]

I've got a half-dozen friends on the spectrum. They seem pretty not-disabled to me. I flunked out of college; most of 'em have BAs at least; one's got a PhD.

[undauntra.livejournal.com]

Is it possible that your friends are a non-representative sample of people with autism? If nothing else, they've been selected for moving in your social circles.

[my-name-is-anna.livejournal.com]

Of course there are people with ASD like that.
There's also people who are severely disabled and need 24 hour care.
You won't know them as they live in care homes and don't go to college etc...
Back to my original point, a lifelong disability is not better than a short childhood illness. I'm sure even your more able friends with ASD would agree with this.

[daharyn.livejournal.com]

The fact that your friends were able to successfully pursue higher education suggests to me that they are all on the high end of the spectrum. I know a half-dozen people on the spectrum who have been permanently institutionalized or are living in group homes with professional support. The whole point is that it's a spectrum. My guess is, you're seeing one portion of the range and extrapolating erroneously?

I think that when we cope with lifelong conditions ourselves--in my case, recurrent depression--it's easier to assume that other people would be okay with adapting their lives to such conditions. But that actually isn't true. Most people would prefer a short-term serious illness to a long-term disability, however "minor."

I have been fully vaccinated and will continue to vaccinate as needed. My workplace is vaccinating 20,000+ people against meningococcemia starting next month. It's a B-strain vaccine for people aged 25 and under, but if issues here continue I'll be heading to the doctor to get the multi-strain vaccine that's approved for up to age 55. Clearly, I agree with the facts: vaccines don't cause autism. But to assume that being diagnosed with autism wouldn't be so bad, well, that's a bit scary!

And I haven't even gotten into the fact that your friends "seem" "not-disabled" to you. You yourself might not seem disabled to people on the street, or even to your friends at times--right? And yet I'm fairly certain you meet the legal definition? Do correct me if I'm wrong about that. But I was under the impression that those receiving disability were considered, well, disabled?

[xiphias.livejournal.com]

Right now, I meet the legal definition, but I'm hoping to be off SSDI within the year. Hopefully by summer.

[adrian-turtle.livejournal.com]

Measles is sometimes fatal. (It can also cause blindness.) If you're going to focus on the worst cases of autism, we should also focus on the worst cases of measles.

Also, if your priority is to reduce autism, you really ought to reduce the number of pregnant women who catch rubella (german measles.) Vaccination helps.

[my-name-is-anna.livejournal.com]

I am really not anti-vaccination.
But I disagree with the original poster's flippant views about autism.
Yes sometimes measles can be dangerous, in the majority of cases it's not.
Saying that measles and mumps are worse than autism just isn't true.