It has to do with the structure of the cell wall. Gram positive bacteria have a lot of peptidoglycan, which allows them to take up the crystal violet stain and appear blue. Gram negatives have lipopolysaccharide that does not take up crystal violet, so they are counter-stained by the pink dye. Listeria’s gram positive, E. coli’s gram negative.
Yes, to the one you got. But that won’t be the one you’re exposed to next year; so you need a yearly shot. Lots of workers are trying to develop a “universal” shot that would cover many strains of flu, so you would not need yearly boosters. Conspiracy theorists say “they” will never let that happen, as it will cost the money-grubbing vaccine makers a fortune; realists say, whoever gets it first will be rich, and also do a lot of good.
Not the faintest idea. Someone needs to go with her to the doctor and hear what they are actually saying, as she may be a bit confused.
Well, you can’t actually get a correlation from a single observation. But there could be a chance; either you stimulated the entire immune system (like exercising) and/or you are immune to an awful lot of bacteria and viruses from exposure to the other kids. Or you have a naturally good immune system. Or you’re lucky.
Yes. In fact, many foods contain all sorts of carcinogens, naturally! It is estimated that the dose of carcinogens in natural food (vegetables, cooked meats) is far greater than any pesticide or other chemical residues that might be in your diet. Remember, we evolved with these things, and have ways to inactivate most of them. There is no need to worry about it!
Yes, quite effective for things spread by droplets, as in coughing or sneezing. They must be changed when the get wet. There are a few things that they won’t stop, like virus particles such as Ebola, but for flu and similar things they are as effective as more expensive masks.
Actually you wait for the zoster (shingles) immunization; it’s the same virus but a different formulation for older folks. It’s simply that it is still being tested and we don’t know yet if it’s effective for those under 60.
Proactive rocks. Tetanus: 35 cents wholesale for a dose of vaccine; $500,000 to treat a case, which if even slightly advanced in commonly fatal.
No, that isn’t right. There is a preservative called thimerosal that contains a trace of mercury. It is an ethyl mercury, not methyl mercury which is known to be toxic. The only vaccine it is still found in is the injected flu vaccine. Though it has never been shown to be harmful, (contrary to many people who, sadly, do not have their facts right) if you are afraid of it, get the nasal flu vaccine instead.
Natural, after an infection, probably gives the longest immunity, but you can die or be otherwise harmed by many of the infections we vaccinate against, so we don’t recommend waiting to get sick. Attenuated live virus vaccines (for example, MMR, chicken pox, nasal flu) usually give very good immunity, but so do our injected vaccines; they’ve been tested on millions of individuals. Antibody or T cell immunity both depend on memory cells and can last a long time.
It seems indeed to be the Jensen Farms cantaloupes. How the Listeria got on them is a mystery. The CDC reports here: http://www.cdc.gov/listeria/outbreaks/cantaloupes-jensen-farms/101211/index.html
Just as good. We don’t know about cost, as the air-gun is used in mass-vaccination efforts. It’s supposed to be less painful that a needle.
Actually, we think it is wonderful that a shot of a simple protein produces 10 whole years of immunity!
Nothing very convincing. A couple of B vitamins are partially lost on pasteurization, but they are replaced. The risks seem worse than any benefits at this time.