his_word_is_truth
New member
@frank12 Effectively yes.
If you think of viruses like genres in a library - when your child gets one type of, say, adenovirus, it’ll be all symptoms go for the first strain (high temp, nausea, sickness and diarrhoea) and they’ll have some short-term immunity that will wear off over a few months, but the system has stored the knowledge of this virus in its very cells. Therefore, 6 months later when they get another strain of adenovirus, the immune system has cells experienced in dealing with this genre of viruses and responds with this knowledge. It might not be exactly the same, but there’s enough similarities that knowledge of one can be applied to the other. So maybe this time it’s just a mild upset tummy for a few days.
Most people have a relatively fine functioning immune system. That includes young children, but because they’re meeting everything for the first time, they take it full force for a while. They also often have co-infections which can make it feel extra harsh. If vaccine uptake is high in your area and your 6 month old isn’t knowingly immunocompromised, I wouldn’t worry too much about any of this. You mention the MMR, but that’s the point of vaccination - it’s not just about personal protection, it’s about societal protection. The chances of your baby getting measles from their vaccinated sister, who is mingling with other vaccinated children, is exceptionally low. That’s herd immunity at work.
If you think of viruses like genres in a library - when your child gets one type of, say, adenovirus, it’ll be all symptoms go for the first strain (high temp, nausea, sickness and diarrhoea) and they’ll have some short-term immunity that will wear off over a few months, but the system has stored the knowledge of this virus in its very cells. Therefore, 6 months later when they get another strain of adenovirus, the immune system has cells experienced in dealing with this genre of viruses and responds with this knowledge. It might not be exactly the same, but there’s enough similarities that knowledge of one can be applied to the other. So maybe this time it’s just a mild upset tummy for a few days.
Most people have a relatively fine functioning immune system. That includes young children, but because they’re meeting everything for the first time, they take it full force for a while. They also often have co-infections which can make it feel extra harsh. If vaccine uptake is high in your area and your 6 month old isn’t knowingly immunocompromised, I wouldn’t worry too much about any of this. You mention the MMR, but that’s the point of vaccination - it’s not just about personal protection, it’s about societal protection. The chances of your baby getting measles from their vaccinated sister, who is mingling with other vaccinated children, is exceptionally low. That’s herd immunity at work.