On 12/13/2012 8:02 PM, Han wrote:
The Daring Dufas wrote in
:

On 12/13/2012 2:43 PM, Han wrote:
The Daring Dufas wrote in
:

I would be inclined to go with the mist up my nose since that's
where I believe the flu virus enters the body anyway. I know there
are different vectors but a virus can get into you if you touch
contaminated surfaces then your mouth so the immune response is
going to start in the mucous membranes. Why not start there? O_o

So far I myself have always gone with the shot, but I believe the
mist is supposed to be better. While your idea has appeal - that is
the location where you get the infection, so immunizing there is
better - I don't think that is necessarily the most important reason.
Immune cells have a way to travel to the sites where they are needed
anyway, so where the immunization takes place isn't very important.
I think the reason inhaling the mist is working so well is the
abundance of bloodvessels near the surface of the nasal mucosa
(design by Mother nature to get as fast as possible at the bugs you
breathe in). So entry of the vaccine into the blood stream is easy
and effective right there - no pain, all gain. Addicts don't inject
cocaine subcutaneously, they snort it. For the anal retentive there
is another route. In fact, suppositories are a very effective way to
introduce medications.


I'm no physician or medical expert, my field of study was physics not
medicine so I defer to the medical experts but I can read and
comprehend things scientific and from what I've read on the
respiratory system, it seems to me that a great deal of the body's
immune response mechanism is concentrated in the mouth and nose where
most everything is being taken into the body. I'm guessing that the
mucous membranes of the nose, mouth and lungs are going to produce
things like histamine a lot quicker than the skin. Is it not true that
some things that you may breathe in or swallow may be harmless but
devastating if you got them in a cut or puncture of your skin? I'm
just assuming that the immune system has more resources concentrated
around openings in the body even though our marvelous immune systems
go after invaders no matter where they are. I have an idea that
breathing in a vaccine may be less likely to make me ill than an
injection. Every time I've ever received a flu shot, I have become
very ill. ^_^

TDD

I was in medical research before I retired 2 years ago, but I am far from
a qualified physician. Nevertheless, getting sick from a flu shot is
something to talk to your doctor about, since it suggests you are
allergic to something in those shots. Better to find out what it really
is that makes you sick, since flu shots aren't supposed to make you sick
at all, at least not the ones in the last 5-10 years.

Indeed, those parts of your body that come into contact with the outside
world are heavily defended by the immune system - your skin, mouth, nose,
gut etc. Therefore they have many blood vessels (transportation
network), and immune cells.


Yea, the trick question, "What's the largest organ of the human body?"
"The Skin." ^_^

TDD