# Polio



## oldman (Feb 24, 2015)

Anyone watch the documentary about Polio on the Smithsonian Channel? Very interesting information, but one of the points to the film was that Polio is making a comeback, even in this country. It seems like Africa and India lead the world with new cases, but the U.S. is seeing more new cases each year. The narrator said that a lot of parents fear having their children inoculated because they may actually get the disease. What used to be the "Mother's March of Dimes" is now turning into the "Grandmother's March of Dimes." They showed all the dimes that were being collected and ending up on FDR's desk. There actually was almost a shortage on dimes in this country. 

I never knew that Salk and Sabin had a bit of an inside rivalry going on with each one trying to be the first one to find the cure and also to show that their vaccine was better than the other. Of course, Salk's was dead bacteria and Sabin's was live, but weakened bacteria and because of this, people feared Sabin's more than Salk's. I remember having both. Three shots and a booster. I also had two or three oral doses of the Sabin vaccine that was administered on a sugar cube.  

On the show were also survivors of the disease who spoke about how Polio affected their lives. All very interesting.


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## rkunsaw (Feb 24, 2015)

The anti-vaxers are bringing back a lot of diseases that had all but been wiped out in this country.


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## QuickSilver (Feb 24, 2015)

Yes... the blame belongs squarely on their shoulders...  We will have to keep children inside and away from these nut jobs until we can get them vaccinated..  Next stop?   SMALLPOX.


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## d0ug (Feb 24, 2015)

All polio cases in the US are in vaccinated people and the out break in India started just after a large vaccine immunization campaign.


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## Ameriscot (Feb 24, 2015)

QuickSilver said:


> Yes... the blame belongs squarely on their shoulders...  We will have to keep children inside and away from these nut jobs until we can get them vaccinated..  Next stop?   SMALLPOX.



Smallpox would be a disaster in the UK.  Nobody got vaccinated as it was supposedly wiped out by the 50's.  In the UK they got TB vaccinations as that was the big threat back then.  So I had the smallpox vaccine, husband had the TB.  When we were going to Uganda we were supposed to prove we had the TB vaccination which I couldn't.  My doctor's office couldn't help, so I phoned around and was finally told that at my age (55) it wouldn't do me any good.


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## QuickSilver (Feb 24, 2015)

Ameriscot said:


> Smallpox would be a disaster in the UK.  Nobody got vaccinated as it was supposedly wiped out by the 50's.  In the UK they got TB vaccinations as that was the big threat back then.  So I had the smallpox vaccine, husband had the TB.  When we were going to Uganda we were supposed to prove we had the TB vaccination which I couldn't.  My doctor's office couldn't help, so I phoned around and was finally told that at my age (55) it wouldn't do me any good.



They stopped vaccinating for smallpox here in the early 70's   My oldest son was vaccinated, my youngest wasn't.. None of my grandkids are.


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## Ameriscot (Feb 24, 2015)

QuickSilver said:


> They stopped vaccinating for smallpox here in the early 70's   My oldest son was vaccinated, my youngest wasn't.. None of my grandkids are.



My oldest son was born in 1971 and he didn't get vaccinated.  I think they stopped vaccinating in the UK in the early 50's (?)


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## QuickSilver (Feb 24, 2015)

Ameriscot said:


> My oldest son was born in 1971 and he didn't get vaccinated.  I think they stopped vaccinating in the UK in the early 50's (?)



My oldest was born in 1969..  My youngest in 1972  so in between then, they stopped here.


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## Ameriscot (Feb 24, 2015)

QuickSilver said:


> My oldest was born in 1969..  My youngest in 1972  so in between then, they stopped here.



Yes, I think they were usually given at a year old and when I asked the doctor about it - which would have been mid 72 - he chuckled and replied they don't do those any more, it's been eradicated.  Don't know why he laughed.  My youngest was born in 1973.


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## Pappy (Feb 24, 2015)

Before the vaccine came out, we had 2 cases in our grade schools. One was a friend of mine. It was a time that parents, and children, were scared to death. Many parents kept their children home. Everyone feared the dreaded Iron Lung.


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## Ameriscot (Feb 24, 2015)

Pappy said:


> Before the vaccine came out, we had 2 cases in our grade schools. One was a friend of mine. It was a time that parents, and children, were scared to death. Many parents kept their children home. Everyone feared the dreaded Iron Lung.



Are you referring to smallpox, Pappy?


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## Josiah (Feb 24, 2015)

I remember in my childhood, knowing of and knowing personally many persons who were crippled by polio. Pictures of people in iron lungs were ubiquitous.


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## Ameriscot (Feb 24, 2015)

Hmmm....just googled when the last smallpox vaccinations were given in the UK.  I could swear when I checked before it was in the 1950's.  But it was 1971, just like the US.  Wonder why my husband didn't get one....

The article I found from 2002 said the UK had ordered lots of vaccines because they were worried about biological warfare by terrorists.


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## Pam (Feb 24, 2015)

I was vaccinated against smallpox, as were  my parents but not my sons who were born after 1971.


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## QuickSilver (Feb 24, 2015)

I remember the Polio scare.  I remember when the vaccine finally came out.. It was given on a sugar cube... at the local bank.  Parents and kids were lined up around the block waiting to be vaccinated... such was the fear..   My mother was very worried.. particularly in the summer.. No public swimming pools or drinking fountains for me.


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## QuickSilver (Feb 24, 2015)

d0ug said:


> All polio cases in the US are in vaccinated people and the out break in India started just after a large vaccine immunization campaign.



Because it wasn't polio..... but a "polio like" disease

http://www.cdc.gov/non-polio-enterovirus/outbreaks/EV-D68-outbreaks.html


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## Pappy (Feb 24, 2015)

Ameriscot said:


> Are you referring to smallpox, Pappy?



No Ma'am. This was Polio. Early 40s.
Like QS said, swimming pools were a no go. Crowds of any kind were avoided if at all possible. I'm pretty sure there was no defense against it.


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## Ameriscot (Feb 24, 2015)

Pappy said:


> No Ma'am. This was Polio. Early 40s.
> Like QS said, swimming pools were a no go. Crowds of any kind were avoided if at all possible. I'm pretty sure there was no defense against it.



Figured that out later.  I had a neighbour who had polio as a child and she couldn't walk without crutches.


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## QuickSilver (Feb 24, 2015)

I had several kids with leg braces in my class.


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## AZ Jim (Feb 24, 2015)

Pappy said:


> No Ma'am. This was Polio. Early 40s.
> Like QS said, swimming pools were a no go. Crowds of any kind were avoided if at all possible. I'm pretty sure there was no defense against it.



Pappy, is right it was the polio that brought on the Iron lung machines and avoidance of public pools etc.


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## hollydolly (Feb 24, 2015)

Ameriscot said:


> Hmmm....just googled when the last smallpox vaccinations were given in the UK.  I could swear when I checked before it was in the 1950's.  But it was 1971, just like the US.  Wonder why my husband didn't get one....
> 
> The article I found from 2002 said the UK had ordered lots of vaccines because they were worried about biological warfare by terrorists.



I got the TB vaccination  in in '69 when I was at school  the Polio one when I was just a tot  but as far as I'm aware I didn't get the smallpox one


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## AZ Jim (Feb 24, 2015)

I got shots for every disease known to man in the service (overseas shots marathon).  All at one time...was sore for days.


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## Pappy (Feb 24, 2015)

The Polio vaccine was started in 1955 according to Google. I actually thought it was sooner than this.


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## QuickSilver (Feb 24, 2015)

hollydolly said:


> I got the TB vaccination  in in '69 when I was at school  the Polio one when I was just a tot  but as far as I'm aware I didn't get the smallpox one



We don't vaccinate for TB here in the States

http://vec.chop.edu/service/vaccine...ook-at-each-vaccine/tuberculosis-vaccine.html


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## Mrs. Robinson (Feb 24, 2015)

Pappy said:


> The Polio vaccine was started in 1955 according to Google. I actually thought it was sooner than this.



1955 was actually the year that our neighbor,my best friend`s mom,contracted polio,so 1955 sounds right as the first year the vaccine being available. That`s the year I got my first polio shot-I was 5.


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## Mrs. Robinson (Feb 24, 2015)

My first two girls were born in 1968 and 1973. Oldest got the smallpox vaccine,younger one didn`t. The thought of smallpox making a comeback is pretty darn scary.


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## Mrs. Robinson (Feb 24, 2015)

QuickSilver said:


> I remember the Polio scare.  I remember when the vaccine finally came out.. It was given on a sugar cube... at the local bank.  Parents and kids were lined up around the block waiting to be vaccinated... such was the fear..   My mother was very worried.. particularly in the summer.. No public swimming pools or drinking fountains for me.



The first vaccine to come out was given by injection. Sugar cube vaccines came out a little later-I`ll have to check what year.


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## QuickSilver (Feb 24, 2015)

Mrs. Robinson said:


> The first vaccine to come out was given by injection. Sugar cube vaccines came out a little later-I`ll have to check what year.



Could be.... I really can't remember.  I may have had the shot.. BUT what I know was that my mother took me as soon as it was available..  Memory fades a tad after 60 years.  I would have been only 6 in 1955.  But I do remember standing in line outside the Bank.. and being scared.. lol!!


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## Mrs. Robinson (Feb 24, 2015)

Early 60`s it says the "sugar cube" vaccine was first used. I`ll bet you did have the shots-several in fact. I so remember getting them-mostly because everybody else cried and I never did lol. Our elementary school was transitioning from an old school to a new building up the street. The nurse`s office was located in the new building. So they would walk us all up the street to get our shots.


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## Son_of_Perdition (Feb 24, 2015)

I received the test vaccine in April 1954 in one of the selected grade schools testing the vaccine.  There were 600,000 school age children tested.  In June 1954 I was staying at my cousins house 60 miles from home and came down with what my parents, aunt & uncle thought was the flu.  I had every symptom, nausea, joint pain, head ache.  My aunt asked me to touch my chin on my chest and couldn't.  My father picked me up and after a painful ride home they took me to the doctor.  He took tests and identified the disease as polio.


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## QuickSilver (Feb 24, 2015)

Mrs. Robinson said:


> Early 60`s it says the "sugar cube" vaccine was first used. I`ll bet you did have the shots-several in fact. I so remember getting them-mostly because everybody else cried and I never did lol. Our elementary school was transitioning from an old school to a new building up the street. The nurse`s office was located in the new building. So they would walk us all up the street to get our shots.




I remember getting shots in school....  Because Michael Sullivan was standing behind me and puked in my hair.


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## Ameriscot (Feb 24, 2015)

AZ Jim said:


> I got shots for every disease known to man in the service (overseas shots marathon).  All at one time...was sore for days.



Before Uganda we went to see the nurse once a week for weeks. DPT, hepatitis Aand B, meningitis, rabies series of 3, yellow fever, and a few more. Ouch.


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## QuickSilver (Feb 24, 2015)

Ameriscot said:


> Before Uganda we went to see the nurse once a week for weeks. DPT, hepatitis Aand B, meningitis, rabies series of 3, yellow fever, and a few more. Ouch.



AHHH...  Yellow fever...  I'll never catch that...  I've had West Nile..  and my ID doc told me it provides immunity to yellow fever..  who knew.. lol!


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## 911 (Feb 24, 2015)

Polio. Yeah, I remember that disease, iron lungs, braces and a lot of heartache for those that suffered with it. I got the shots while in school like most kids. That's back when they had the long thick needles that felt like it was going through my arm. Then itched like crazy, but it was better than taking a risk.


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## AZ Jim (Feb 24, 2015)

Salk vaccine was developed by Jonas Salk at the Salk institute in San Diego.  By the time it came around I was an adult but it brought a horrible crippling disease to an end.  I lived in San Diego most of my life and it has many places of medical discovery including Scripps.


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## RadishRose (Feb 24, 2015)

I had an uncle who had polio before I was born. He recovered.


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## AZ Jim (Feb 24, 2015)

Oh it wasn't very fatal, but crippling.


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## oldman (Feb 25, 2015)

AZ Jim said:


> Salk vaccine was developed by Jonas Salk at the Salk institute in San Diego.  By the time it came around I was an adult but it brought a horrible crippling disease to an end.  I lived in San Diego most of my life and it has many places of medical discovery including Scripps.



According to the documentary that I watched, Salk developed his vaccine at the University of Pittsburgh. WOW! The Smithsonian Channel was wrong on that one.


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## Pappy (Feb 25, 2015)

This was the dreaded machine. It did keep one alive though. Does anyone recall if you were in it for life or did you get better after lung treatment. I don't remember.


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## Sunny (Feb 25, 2015)

Polio was a very much dreaded disease during my childhood, and yes, it could be fatal. A 14-year old girl in my class died of it, very suddenly. I think they called it bulbar polio, and it paralyzed the breathing organs. The Salk and Sabin vaccines were wonderful medications. One less horrible thing for parents to worry about.


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## AprilT (Feb 25, 2015)

I remember always going for regular checkups getting shots, watching my big brother scream for bloody murder when his turn came around, of course then, I wasn't aware when the shot was coming.  Later when I was aware, around age 9-10 it sometimes took a couple to three people to hold me down to administer my shots.   I wasn't a happy camper, but, I received my vaccinations back in the mid to late 60's.  However, I do recall either having the mumps or measles, I can't remember which, sometime before age 8.


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## Ameriscot (Feb 25, 2015)

QuickSilver said:


> AHHH...  Yellow fever...  I'll never catch that...  I've had West Nile..  and my ID doc told me it provides immunity to yellow fever..  who knew.. lol!



Where did you catch West Nile virus?  

I felt like a pin cushion before going to Uganda!  We also had a typhoid vaccination.  Had to get a booster before Thailand.


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## Ameriscot (Feb 25, 2015)

AprilT said:


> I remember always going for regular checkups getting shots, watching my big brother scream for bloody murder when his turn came around, of course then, I wasn't aware when the shot was coming.  Later when I was aware, around age 9-10 it sometimes took a couple to three people to hold me down to administer my shots.   I wasn't a happy camper, but, I received my vaccinations back in the mid to late 60's.  However, I do recall either having the mumps or measles, I can't remember which, sometime before age 8.



I had chicken pox and measles around ages 5 and 6.  I remember being put in a dark room with the measles.  With one of those I kept screaming bloody murder so my mom would phone the doctor and when he got to the house I'd stop screaming. Never had mumps.


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## Pappy (Feb 25, 2015)

I had a terrible case of chicken pox. I felt so miserable and remember crying a lot. I was quite small and living with my grandparents. And, that lead to a bout of shingles last summer.


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## AprilT (Feb 25, 2015)

Ameriscot said:


> I had chicken pox and measles around ages 5 and 6.  I remember being put in a dark room with the measles.  With one of those I kept screaming bloody murder so my mom would phone the doctor and when he got to the house I'd stop screaming. Never had mumps.



Maybe it was chicken pox, it was so long ago, I just remember like you and Pappy, being, bumpy, red and miserable, but I can't recall exactly which of the illnesses it was.


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## QuickSilver (Feb 25, 2015)

I remember being so darn sick with the measles..  Fever, and big knots (swollen lymph nodes) behind my ears.. and just weak and tired. 

I had what I can only describe as a Chicken POCK.... one... a single POX on my chest.. They put me to bed and kept me warm and waited for the rest to erupt, but they never did.   However, years later when I had my varicella titer done for nursing school, I had immunity to CHicken Pox.. so I guess that one little blister did the trick.


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## oldman (Feb 25, 2015)

Pappy said:


> This was the dreaded machine. It did keep one alive though. Does anyone recall if you were in it for life or did you get better after lung treatment. I don't remember.



Just being put in that machine had to be terrifying for some. How long did they have to be in there, like how many hours at a time? During one of my MRI's that I had on my back, there was a lady in another MRI and she started yelling for the nurse to get her out of there. She was really upset and was screaming and yelling. She was only in it for a few minutes and couldn't stand being enclosed. It takes about 45 minutes for my back MRI and I had headphones on listening to music with the station of my choice. Towards the end, I started to feel a little claustrophobic myself, but didn't mind it much.


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## QuickSilver (Feb 25, 2015)

Ameriscot said:


> Where did you catch West Nile virus?
> 
> I felt like a pin cushion before going to Uganda!  We also had a typhoid vaccination.  Had to get a booster before Thailand.



We had a huge outbreak of West Nile here in the States... I had it in the summer of 2002.   I felt achy.. tired.  I had huge lymph nodes behind my ears and I broke out in a blotchy rash..  Funny thing.  My ID doc also had it that same summer.   Fortunately, I was healthy and was only sick about a week.. it also never developed into a respiratory problem..


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## Denise1952 (Feb 25, 2015)

I may have missed it in the thread, but does anyone know what causes Polio?  I was thinking that whatever it is, is still around.  I guess I think of viruses coming and going, but an anti-virus isn't a cure right?  I mean, it stops and saves lives, but it doesn't take away the source of polio.  There must be people out there trying to find and eliminate the source, but again, I don't have a clue what that source is.


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## Pappy (Feb 25, 2015)

It is caused by a virus, poliovirus, and is very contagious. Young children are more apt to get it as it can be transfered through human feces. It attacks ones brain or spinal cord and affects the nervous system. Lungs and legs are often affected.


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## Denise1952 (Feb 25, 2015)

Pappy said:


> It is caused by a virus, poliovirus, and is very contagious. Young children are more apt to get it as it can be transfered through human feces. It attacks ones brain or spinal cord and affects the nervous system. Lungs and legs are often affected.



I'm wondering the sources of these viruses, I guess I'm thinking to somehow eliminate them before they can get into our bodies.  You can tell I never did so well with a chemistry set.  I did learn I could be a demolitionist, but I didn't like the mess.


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## d0ug (Feb 25, 2015)

Viruses seem to have their own life cycle they show up and cause their harm and just as fast disappear they don't know why. They refer to this as a bell shape curve. All the vaccines have shown up when the the virus is almost over and then try and take credit for stopping it.


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## oldman (Feb 26, 2015)

d0ug said:


> Viruses seem to have their own life cycle they show up and cause their harm and just as fast disappear they don't know why. They refer to this as a bell shape curve. All the vaccines have shown up when the the virus is almost over and then try and take credit for stopping it.



This may or may not be so, but not all viruses behave this may. Namely the Ebola Virus, which is deadly almost 100% of the time. Then there is Rabies and Smallpox, also very dangerous viruses. And of course the good old flu.


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## QuickSilver (Feb 26, 2015)

Where do viruses go in between breakouts?   Who knows... but rest assured.. they are around waiting for an opportunity in an non-immune host.


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## Denise1952 (Feb 26, 2015)

That is a most interesting thought QS, where do they go?  If their airborne, that's where they are, right??  If their not, then do they just sit on something solid maybe?


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## WhatInThe (Feb 28, 2015)

All is I can say is that the people I know with polio can be overly cautious at times. Part of the fear with polio patients is that if they fatigue muscles and nervous system they wear it out faster. But the effect of being sedentary seems to out pace the effects of polio itself which is still eventually unstoppable. This means do what ever you can for fitness/mobility especially. Anything to avoid arthritis or joints fusing together and physical therapy for non affected areas. If upper body is OK do just enough pt to avoid injury because over use of the upper body can cause injury or RMIs. Also any nutrients for nerve tissue might help or stave off eventually nerve damage. Many say B vitamins and potassium are good for the nerves. Not too many docs even want to deal with polio patients. They use decades old approaches to these patients frequently robbing them of valuable years.


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## Pappy (Feb 28, 2015)

Just a couple things I found on viruses:


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## oldman (Mar 1, 2015)

QuickSilver said:


> Where do viruses go in between breakouts?   Who knows... but rest assured.. they are around waiting for an opportunity in an non-immune host.



You are right. Most viruses do not go dormant. They are carried by hosts that have been protected or are immune. However, the more hosts there are the higher likelihood that someone unprotected will be infected and the virus will be able to do its nasty job. Magic Johnson would be a good example of this. He has the HIV virus, which causes AIDS, but does not have the disease. For whatever reason, his immune system, along with taking the same drugs as a person with AIDS, has protected him, but if he were to have sex with an unprotected person then that person may acquire the disease, or becomes another host, or have nothing at all change in his/her body. I guess that you could say that it's a crap shoot. 

Like I have stated many times here, I am a certified substance abuse counselor. A few months ago, I met a 14 year old female child that contracted AIDS by sharing a needle with an AIDS patient. The patient knew he had the disease and yet still passed the needle to this 14 year old female. He was arrested by the Philadelphia police. How this will all end up is anyone's guess. BTW, there is a lot more to this story, but I tried to keep it short.


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## QuickSilver (Mar 1, 2015)

That makes sense... since most of us who have had chicken pox still carry the virus in the nerve fibers at the base of our spines... just waiting patiently for our immunity to decline.. then we get shingles.


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