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Why isn't there mention of virus mutation?

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kitesandtrainsandcats
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15 Apr 2017, 3:01 pm

Why isn't there mention of virus mutation in these articles? Don't viruses mutate pretty often?
Maybe that's why :?:

Quote:
"Throughout this outbreak, 90 percent to 95 percent of school-aged children and 30 percent to 40 percent of adults involved in the outbreak have been fully immunized," the Arkansas health department says on its website.
"The vaccine is not perfect. Two doses of the MMR (measles, mumps and rubella) shot are about 88 percent effective at preventing the mumps. That means that if you have 100 people who are fully vaccinated, 88 of them will be fully protected," it adds.

http://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-ne ... gh-n745821

Quote:
Across the nation, most mumps cases are occurring among people who have been vaccinated, according to the CDC, and these outbreaks are not due to low vaccination rates.
...
Still, if you're visiting family in Texas and know that they have the mumps, you might go to your doctor beforehand and request a dose of MMR, he suggested.
"You may have to pay for it out of pocket," he said. "How much protection it gives me, I don't know, but it is a safe and easy thing to do."

http://www.cnn.com/2017/04/14/health/mumps-texas/


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Clockwork City
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17 Apr 2017, 7:53 am

Depends on the virus.
The measles virus for example hasn't really changed in the last 100 years, the one that causes mumps does develop new strains but very slowly as a rule, compared to say influenza which often develops multiple new strains every year.
For slower changing viruses generally the vaccine would still give some protection and a rapid outbreak like this would be unlikely, but rather you would see a slowly increasing trend.

In most reported outbreaks (large enough to not just be dealt with by local doctor) the first thing any investigating team would do would be to culture a sample and check what virus they are dealing with, so unless they report that it's a new strain (or specifically that it's one that the vaccine response isn't up to dealing with) then it's probably just the same one.

Of course it could also be that the reporters just aren't very interested in finding out, or don't think that the readers would find viral mutation an interesting story! lol



friedmacguffins
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17 Apr 2017, 10:51 am

Quote:
Throughout this outbreak, 90 percent to 95 percent of school-aged children and 30 percent to 40 percent of adults involved in the outbreak have been fully immunized


Regardless of mutations, the vaccinated shed active virions, from weeks to months. Why does it not seem bizarre, that people should inject infectious materials, into themselves.



kitesandtrainsandcats
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17 Apr 2017, 11:22 am

friedmacguffins wrote:
Why does it not seem bizarre, that people should inject infectious materials, into themselves.
I'm thinking it may have relation to the same society about which we can ask why does it not seem bizarre that people worship celebrities, even the concept of celebrity itself?
But there are benefits to immunizations. Generally. A lot of the time.


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friedmacguffins
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17 Apr 2017, 11:33 am

The differences between a sensitized person, an asymptomatic carrier, and a symptomatic carrier are speculative, based on dosage, or the vaccine would remain the same.