Death or debilitating illness has often precluded any benefit afforded by partial immunity, which is by no means a guaranteed outcome.

about 1975. I got the Asian flu in 1957 or in 1958. A type A flu, the deadliest of the several versions out there. Clearly I survived.

Alas, that link goes nowhere.

Actually, getting and recovering from lots of illnesses really is better than vaccination. Smallpox is a good example. Get it, recover, you'll never get it again. The vaccine was only good for a few years. If it ever gets out out of the couple of places where it's held, millions will get it and many will die.

I am not vaccine resistant.

I am not suggesting not getting the Covid vaccine, even though I'm talking about my own personal high level of immunity. I'm 74 years old. Last got flu some time in the early or mid 1970s. Have gotten maybe two colds in the last ten years. Yes, I have gotten the Covid vaccine (J&J one and done) plus two boosters, and will get the third booster early next year.

And no, my understanding of natural immunity is not an act. It's based on science. Also, personal experience, which often doesn't matter here on DU. Nonetheless, I don't get sick these days. I got sick a lot as a young child. Lived in subsidized housing from about age 2 to 7. Lots and lots of other little kids around. Then went to Catholic school, which was overcrowded. I got sick A LOT in those early years. In my kindergarten year I don't know just how often I was absent, but it was a lot. Back then, in kindergarten, it didn't matter very much because kindergarten wasn't remotely academic. First grade year, I was out exactly one day.

I continued to get the (normal back then) typical childhood illnesses like measles, mumps, rubella, and whatever. No vaccines back then, although I'm not about to suggest kids don't get those vaccines today.

Keep in mind our immune system is designed to be challenged a whole lot in our first twenty or so years of life. Challenged by getting various and many diseases, which we recover from, and are now permanently immune. Not that vaccines aren't a good thing, but notice that a lot of vaccines require a booster or second shot, unlike if you'd gotten that disease in the first place. Never mind.

Here's the thing. An appropriately challenged immune system becomes very strong and resilient. I'll refer back to influenza. There are three types of flu, unimaginatively labelled type A, type B, and type C. There's actually a type D but it only occurs in cows so we'll ignore that. Type A is by far the worst and most virulent. It's the kind that was the 1918 epidemic, the 1957 epidemic also known as the Asian flu, and the one in 1968 known as the Hong Kong flu. Here's the thing. You get a type A flu, recover, and you are probably immune to the next type A that might come around. That's why in 1918 old people didn't get the Spanish flu. They'd been exposed to an earlier type A some fifty years prior, and were either already immune or had gotten it and recovered and were now immune.

That's why if you depend on the flu shot you need to take it every year, because the immunity from the shot is relatively short lived. Oh, and you are actually better off getting the flu shot every other year. Please don't take my word for it but google that on your own.

So when I start nattering on about things like immunity, I'm not just blowing smoke. I have some idea what I am talking about.

Is much safer than getting COVID to form immunity

Note for those who want more clarification: my "R's" here mean congressional republicans and their media sycophants and enablers, whereas the "r's" refers to rank and file low-information republicans in the general public who lack skills or instincts for critical thinking and who inevitably default to FOX and various right wing politicalized nitwits in the private sector (evangelicals, for example) to do their "thinking" for them.

And as we who have been keeping up with this Covid-19 news are well aware, it may very well have been the higher death rate among unvaccinated groups (read r's) who put Democrats across America over the top in the 2022 midterms.

So, the law of unintended consequences strikes again, and this entire cycle of stupidity since the beginning of the Covid-19 crisis in the US should rank pretty highly on the our old favorite Darwin Awards list (see darwinawards.com).

Much love to all, and Happy New Year DU'ers. And by the way, my handle on DU, Demnation, has many meanings, and in part it's why I like to comment on the hilarious exploits of today's "Christians" and evangelicals.

The vaccines cover more variations of the virus while natural immunity only covers the specific variation one that infected the patient

Last time I was sick was over 30 years ago. No vaccines for me, my immune system is very strong. It's designed to handle viruses. I refuse to put experimental stuff into my blood stream. All my family (7) that are vaxed around the country have all had covid, some more than once; so what good is the vaccine? My wife and I havent even had a cough. We've been on half a dozen flights. From Oregon, to So Ca, Hawaii, Las Vegas. Highly populated areas. I don't fault those that vax, and I respect mask wearing and do it for others.

Sure, dude, you haven’t been sick in 30 years. Cool
story, bro.

Not lying. I value my health and my body. I take care of it. Healthy foods and products that dont cause desease or compromise my immune system, and yes that includes vaccines. The human body is designed to tackle viruses on it's own. Mrna vaccines fuck up everything. Look at the vaccination injury website. I do still mask as a courtesy

I'm one of those. I got sick A LOT when I was very young. It strengthened my immune system.

I last got flu in the early or mid '70s.

As for colds, there are about 200 rhinoviruses that cause colds. Once you've had one of those and recovered, you are now immune to that specific rhinovirus. Which is why little kids get lots and lots of colds, and older folks not so many.

I am a huge believer in the natural immune system. That does NOT mean I'm opposed to vaccines. Best example is this: If you get smallpox and recover, you will never ever get smallpox again. But chances are you are terribly scarred from smallpox. For a long time any woman who did not have smallpox scars was automatically beautiful. In the context of my appearance, that's sobering. I'm okay looking, and it's weird to think that a couple of hundred years ago I'd be beautiful. However, I'm glad to have lived in an era when we had the smallpox vaccine and for those of you who are younger, live in an era when smallpox simply doesn't exist.

I had what in my childhood were the standard childhood diseases: measles, mumps, rubella, chicken pox. I'm fine with having had them, since I never knew anyone who had any kind of complications from them. That said, I'm aware they can have complications and I'm more than happy to prevent those.

A side note. My son got Fifth Disease, which is the fifth disease after measles, mumps, rubella, and chicken pox, but is no where near as common or well known. It's also extremely benign, fortunately.