Chain Reactions and Immunization

I remember learning about nuclear chain reactions when I was a kid. 

Basically, certain isotopes of Uranium (U-235, for example) are unstable, and if they’re hit by a neutron from another unstable U235 nucleus, it very rapidly decays into two smaller atoms, emitting more neutrons into its environment, and generating heat in the process. 

If there are no other vulnerable atoms in the vicinity, the neutrons just fly harmlessly off into space.  But if one of these neutrons impacts another U235 nucleus, it will also split, emitting even more reactive neutrons, and more energy.  If the concentration of U235 atoms is high enough, this reaction will sustain itself, generating heat to boil water, run a turbine and produce electrical power.  If it’s even higher … you get a nuclear bomb. 

To illustrate the concept, think of a place where people gather – Disneyland for example.  Say one kid with the measles shows up and sneezes, or wipes his nose, then touches a handrail.  If all the people around him are vaccinated, this is a non-event – except for that one kid.  But if the virus ejected in his sneeze comes into contact with an unvaccinated kid, he gets sick, too.  Then when he sneezes, the pattern is repeated.  If enough kids are not vaccinated, the result is an epidemic. 

Since the late 1950s, a range of vaccinations has been the norm for most people.  As a result, few people have been exposed to measles, or a number of other contagious, preventable diseases.  This lack of exposure has led to complacency, and a sense that vaccinations are really optional.  There is even a mythology—unfounded by empirical science—that vaccines are dangerous.   Vaccination for any individual is optional, and safe – as long as everybody else is vaccinated; because the individual is never exposed.  But there is now a concentration of non-vaccinated people within our population to create and sustain epidemics. 

At the concentration we’ve reached, widespread complacency puts us all at risk of a chain reaction of infection.  Many of these diseases are highly contagious, and we are all vulnerable – even if we exercise regularly, eat a diet high in omega-3 fatty acids, and—sad to say—even if we vote Democratic. 

Seriously … get vaccinated, and get your kids vaccinated.