Dear College of Science Faculty and Staff,
I remember getting measles. I was in Miss Miles first grade class, and still remember feeling awful, and that my fever was 104. My mom gave me crushed up aspirin in Coca Cola which ruined the taste. On the other hand, whenever we were sick in bed, my mom would bring out a white cotton bedspread, and with that protection, we could eat or draw, and sometimes the dog would be allowed on the bed. I was ill for several weeks with measles, and my mom asked for schoolwork that I could do at home. I remember the pages of arithmetic problems neatly handwritten by Miss Miles. But honestly, this was of zero interest, and fortunately no-one insisted. The best part was that my mom’s friend Doreen kindly came by with a box of chocolates, where the actual chocolates were each a different color! I thought this was so amazing - both the colored chocolate and that the entire box was for me – and of course, I was lucky to recover from the illness.
Measles virus is very small: a single strand of RNA 15,894 nucleotides (units) long that codes for just eight proteins. The virus is highly infectious, the resulting illness is severe and can result in permanent damage or death. The measles vaccine was developed just after I got sick and is estimated to have prevented around 100 million deaths. Measles persists globally, but was considered eradicated in the US until the past few years when measles outbreaks were again reported here, as people decline vaccinations for their children.
The fear of vaccine side effects is real and should be discussed respectfully and empathetically. People who are nervous about vaccines need reassurance, not detailed mechanism of how the immune system works, which is where online material tends to go. Rather, we need some simple words ready to explain.
I explain that ‘vaccines tell your body how to make its own medicine’. That ‘vaccines make you a tiny bit sick, so you don’t get very sick with the actual illness’. You can explain that ‘special immune cells are the medicine that your body makes’. I don’t think most people want to know more. I explain that ‘you can’t catch the sickness from a vaccination’ because what’s injected is just a little piece of the virus or the dead virus. If asked, I explain that the ‘vaccine is in your body for only a short time, and then is gone, as the protective immune cells are produced’. Of course, not all pathogens are viruses, but for the simple discussion, it doesn’t matter. It’s helpful to have some data on hand: for example, ‘last year (2023) 136,000 children died from measles. Over the sixty years of measles vaccinations and 575 million doses, no-one has died from the vaccination, which prevents the illness’. If there’s interest, we can prepare a short COS primer to help you have sometimes complex, but important discussions around vaccines. Let me know.
In the Northeastern University College of Science, multiple top research groups study infectious diseases, see for example here, and here. The research has the goal of understanding, preventing, or treating devastating viral, bacterial and other types of infectious disease. Vaccine development is one way, and there are other treatment strategies being explored. Thank you for this important work, congratulations on outstanding accomplishments. We hope to soon have a Cross-College Center for Infectious Disease Therapies to promote collaboration and success of these approaches.
On that note, let me remind everyone to take advantage, and get your new COVID shot and the new flu shot! Please take some time off after your vaccination as needed. And as we move into fall, please stay home if you do get sick, to help you get better and to protect our community. We always have face masks available in the Dean’s office.
The thing that sold me on vaccination was being told that ‘vaccines tell your body how to make its own medicine’. How cool and wonderful is that – celebrating the power of your own body. And remembering my measles, I would have taken the vaccine any day, even giving up the box of beautiful chocolates.
Warm wishes to everyone.