[FamiliarFace]

I’m no expert, but I’ve often wondered how much “immunization” is good for our bodies. A little might be helpful, but are we overdoing it now? I think there can be too much of a good thing.

[goodnesswins]

Ya think!!!???

[DoodleBob]

I find that a picture helps illuminate how much may be too much or too little.

I counted about 21 injections by 6 months of age.

[exDemMom]

I’m no expert, but I’ve often wondered how much “immunization” is good for our bodies. A little might be helpful, but are we overdoing it now? I think there can be too much of a good thing.

You really cannot overload the immune system. It is capable of producing trillions of different antibodies. Since there are not trillions of infectious diseases, this means that your immune system is more than capable of handling any number of vaccinations, along with the usual millions of different microorganisms you encounter every day.

A vaccine teaches your immune system how to fight a specific pathogen by exposing it to a tiny noninfectious part of that pathogen. If you get sick with that pathogen, your immune system also (usually) learns how to fight that pathogen. One way, you just get a little poke in the arm. The other way, you feel horrible and a lot of stress is put on your body to fight the pathogen.

While I've seen people express concern about "over-vaccination", I've never seen anyone who was concerned about the effect on the immune system of catching too many diseases. That's kind of backwards, if you ask me. But thin, I am an expert.

Caveat: I am talking about a healthy immune system which functions normally. For people with impaired immune systems, even microorganisms that most of us don't notice can cause serious illness.