July 1st 2024 - the Day of Immunity - this is going to be an historical day. We used to think immunity had to do with health:
Innate immunity: Everyone is born with innate (or natural) immunity, a type of general protection. For example, the skin acts as a barrier to block germs from entering the body.
Adaptive immunity: Adaptive (or active) immunity develops throughout our lives. We develop adaptive immunity when we're exposed to diseases or when we're immunized against them with vaccines.
Passive immunity: Passive immunity is "borrowed" from another source and it lasts for a short time. For example, antibodies in a mother's breast milk give a baby temporary immunity to diseases the mother has been exposed to.
My generation thought that vaccines were the great gift. We experienced measles and polio epidemics in our childhood and got 'saved' by vaccines. When COVID came, my generation found out we might not be saved, even getting our vaccines, given how many people were not getting vaccines.
So here we are with the next chapter in immunity. Parliamentary or legislative immunity. That is where political leadership position holders - president, vice president, minister, and so on are granted immunity from legal prosecution - civil and criminal - in the course of the execution of their official duties. How many legislative immunity systems are there? Lots - Wikipedia explains the major country variations. Now we get to learn the details of government many years after high school.
The U.S. ruling makes me wander to the topic of Kings and Popes. The Vatican enjoys sovereign immunity. And kings? King Charles is exempt from criminal and civil proceedings as the head of state. The British system has the political power in the House of Commons who can create a special court with the power to try him. How different the U.S. is from this. There will be many articles on what this immunity will mean within the U.S. government structures.
This new kind of immunity is going to "plague" us.
Here's a creek I wouldn't want to fall into - a bumpy fall down the escarpment.
Whenever I hear the expression "herd immunity", I think of cows, sheep, buffalo, and deer. I wonder if it is a small herd or bid herd. And then I start to consider whether they are free range on a farm or while, like buffalo and deer. I don't think that's where the mind is supposed to go with the expression.
It is also known as 'population immunity'. But we don't hear that expression - the more common one is herd immunity. It definitely is more noticeable.
It turns out the expression did start with cattle and sheep. They were having epidemics of spontaneous miscarriages in the early 1900s. Farmers were destroying or selling affected cows, but veterinarians warned this was the wrong approach. That was in 1916 in the Journal of American Veterinary Medical Association where "herd immunity" was envisioned. Adoph Eichhorn wrote in 1916 that herd immunity could be achieved.
Sheldon Dudley wrote on the topic in 1923 and his writing is the most extensive on what herd immunity means to humans: “I will now consider the community, or the herd… Nations may be divided into urban or rural herds. Or we can contrast the shoregoing herd with the sailor herd, or herds dwelling in hospitals can be compared with those who live in mental hospitals.”
The Lancet observes: "Dudley's glide from animal to human drew on established British traditions of animal symbolism. As historian Harriet Ritvo argues in The Animal Estate, animals have long served in England as figures for representing national types, lineages, and identities. When Dudley, as surgeon, researcher, and medical administrator, wrote of the “English herd”, he tacitly invoked his own role in a project of national stewardship."
And so “herd immunity” became a fixture of epidemiology by the 1930s. Where does that lead us today? We become familiar with the work and words of 100 years ago. With such a long history, are there any jokes or stories that I have missed?
I found this amusing headline: William Shakespeare Received a COVID Vaccine and Everyone’s Got Jokes: ‘The Taming of the Flu’ - it turns out that the second person in Britain to receive the vaccination was named William Shakespeare. That got my attention after considering names yesterday. Can you imagine the reactions and remarks all through his life?
I didn't find any jokes about herd immunity. I guess it has made it to popular culture just recently as the retrievals are memes. Memes are meant to be a 'bit of humour'. The Memes on herd immunity and vaccinations seem to have bypassed humour, and moved on to opinions.
Cute little Muscari (spellcheck wants it to be Mascara0 or Grape Hyacinths in the front garden this week. Spring's colours are so delightful.
