[HN Gopher] Single vaccine could protect against all coughs, col...
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       Single vaccine could protect against all coughs, colds and flus
        
       Author : dabinat
       Score  : 40 points
       Date   : 2026-02-19 22:08 UTC (52 minutes ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.bbc.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.bbc.com)
        
       | botusaurus wrote:
       | why do they call it a vaccine, its nothing like that...
       | 
       | there's probably a reason evolution didnt put the immune system
       | on permanent "amber alert" as they call it in the article
        
         | Angostura wrote:
         | > The research team in the US does not think the immune system
         | should be permanently dialled up and think such a vaccine
         | should be used to compliment rather than replace current
         | vaccines
        
         | kojacklives wrote:
         | True though there is the theory that it was unnecessary for the
         | immune system to regulate itself in some ways because we were
         | full of parasites.
        
         | Larrikin wrote:
         | Are you wildly speculating or do you have a source with
         | research backing up your claim evolution got it perfectly
         | right?
         | 
         | I personally look forward to every innovation that potentially
         | improves our baseline.
        
         | amelius wrote:
         | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amber_alert
         | 
         | Amber alert means something different than the author thinks
         | ...
        
         | renewiltord wrote:
         | One of the things I do worry about is glasses. Is there a
         | reason why we correct vision? There's probably a reason
         | evolution made some of us see the world in a blur. Likewise
         | with therapy - maybe killing yourself is like cell apoptosis.
         | Many body cells are supposed to choose to die when they no
         | longer function well. It's a good thing. That's often the
         | problem with scientists: "They were so preoccupied with whether
         | they could, they didn't stop to think if they should".
         | 
         | Until we find out why nature made it so some of us kill
         | ourselves maybe we shouldn't fuck with it? Remember
         | Chesterton's Fence.
        
         | giarc wrote:
         | >The effect lasted for around three months in animal
         | experiments.
         | 
         | It would just be temporary, but there is likely trade offs.
        
       | hkt wrote:
       | I'll be fascinated to see how this plays out for people with
       | autoimmune conditions - generalised heightening of the immune
       | system feels like it would be dangerous for those people. Are any
       | immunologists lurking who might be able to speculate?
        
       | reliablereason wrote:
       | > It is given as a nasal spray and leaves white blood cells in
       | our lungs - called macrophages - on "amber alert" and ready to
       | jump into action no matter what infection tries to get in.
       | 
       | Right and if that is such a good thing why are those macrophages
       | not always on alert. I smell longterm cancer or similar.
        
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