You are very concerned about the child with leukemia who was in your office before you saw the measles patient. You know that the two children had been in the same waiting room for at least 20 minutes and that measles is a highly contagious disease. You also know that the patient with cancer has not received his MMRV vaccine because
A) attenuated vaccines that contain fully virulent pathogens, and thus poses a significant risk to immunocompromised people who cannot fight off any microbial infection.
B) attenuated vaccines contain live but weakened disease agents; these may occasionally mutate to become pathogenic again, so there is some risk in giving these vaccines to immunocompromised people.
C) all vaccines are dangerous because of the adjuvants and additives in them, and should only be given to people who are at significant risk of life-threatening diseases such as rabies.
D) measles, mumps, rubella, and varicella are very mild childhood diseases that pose no risk; the leukemia child's immune system is already overwhelmed by fighting that cancer.
E) the child with leukemia is only two, which is way too young to receive too many vaccines; he should probably only get the MMR vaccine before he goes away to college.

Question

You are very concerned about the  child with leukemia  who was in your office before you saw the measles patient. You know that the two children had been in the same waiting room for at least 20 minutes and that measles is a highly contagious disease. You also know that the patient with cancer has not received his MMRV vaccine because
A) attenuated vaccines that contain fully virulent pathogens, and thus poses a significant risk to immunocompromised people who cannot fight off any microbial infection.
B) attenuated vaccines contain live but weakened disease agents; these may occasionally mutate to become pathogenic again, so there is some risk in giving these vaccines to immunocompromised people. 
C) all vaccines are dangerous because of the adjuvants and additives in them, and should only be given to people who are at significant risk of life-threatening diseases such as rabies.
D) measles, mumps, rubella, and varicella are very mild childhood diseases that pose no risk; the leukemia child's immune system is already overwhelmed by fighting that cancer.
E) the child with leukemia is only two, which is way too young to receive too many vaccines; he should probably only get the MMR vaccine before he goes away to college.

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Attenuated vaccines, such as the MMRV vaccine, contain live but weakened disease agents that could pose a risk to immunocompromised individuals who cannot fight off any microbial infection. This is why the child with leukemia has not yet received the MMRV vaccine. In addition, the fact that the child with leukemia and the measles patient were in the same waiting room for at least 20 minutes increases the risk of the leukemia child contracting measles, which could be very dangerous for them.

You Are Very Concerned About the Child with Leukemia Who