Word: viral
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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That effort has paid off. After more than a decade of research, scientists now know that the immune system doesn't simply flick on and off like a light switch. Instead, it responds to a bacterial, viral or parasitic invasion with a combination of defensive weapons matched precisely to the severity of the threat...
...that can happen is if a bacterial or viral illness gets out of control before the immune system can respond. That's where vaccines come in. "What a vaccine does," says Nabel, "is alert these specialized cells that an incoming agent could be a problem, and allow the immune system to respond more quickly and effectively than if it had never seen the bug before." In effect, he says, "you move up the immunologic-response chain of events so the final, acquired response kicks in faster...
Working in collaboration with Strominger, Wiley also determined the structures of other molecules in the immune system and of many different viral proteins...
...memes that inhabited the brains of the hijackers happened to ensure the destruction of their host, but if they are virulent enough to spread to the brains of others prepared by their local conditions to provide good homes to their ilk, this is no matter threatening their survival. Like viral particles of HIV that infect 20 others for every host they happen to kill, the suicidal terrorist meme is likely spreading in the face of these wanton acts of destruction...
...Though it could neutralize one major bioterrorist weapon, there are strong arguments against it. The shots themselves carry risks. Historically, for about two out of every 1 million people inoculated, the vaccine's weak virus strain caused brain infection and death; others developed a mild but still unpleasant poxlike viral infection. More worrisome is the fact that the number of people most vulnerable to these adverse effects--those with compromised immune systems, such as patients in chemotherapy or with AIDS--has increased considerably since the last mass inoculations. Most experts believe that only a confirmed case of smallpox would justify...