Vaccinations have become something of a magic bullet of the age, supposedly giving people Superman-like protection against disease. But, is this magic bullet view correct, or is a more kryptonite position a better fit of reality?
The flu which hit Australia this year, hit harder because the strain mutated after the vaccine had been produced: The Australian, September, 14, 2017, p. 4. There were 155,000 confirmed cases, which is 70 percent more than the entire 2016 flu season. Yet, the concern was made that vaccination rates were still not high enough.
But, wait. If the flu mutated, and hence the vaccine, made for the pre-mutation flu was rendered inadequate, the vaccine rate is besides the point. The fact remains that there is a continuous arms race between bugs and humans, and often the bugs have the upper hand. In this case the mutation was too fast for the vaccine.
It is also interesting to note that research indicates that bacteria can adapt to conditions in outer space, and get stronger and reproduce faster:
http://www.breitbart.com/tech/2017/09/14/study-bacteria-adapts-strengthens-reproduces-faster-in-space/
Although the bacteria decreased in size, they tended to group together in collective patterns for protection. This suggests that space travel could be extra dangerous due to the increased virulence of bacteria. The elite who hope to leave Earth on space ships, to let us all burn down here, may well die of common bacteria infections, if they get their fantasy ships off the ground.