Some of the worst bacterial infections have learned how to trick and evade the human immune response, allowing themselves to set up shop and wreak havoc to health. Two new studies help explain how problematic bacterial infections work their evil.

In the first study, gene arrays were used to analyze the human immune response to Staphylococcus aureus, a bacteria that commonly causes nasty skin infections and when it enters the blood it causes sepsis and other serious problems. The researchers found that the front line immune system (innate immunity) was over-activated as if foot soldiers were battling furiously to contain the problem and call for help. It was also found that the higher-powered immune response (air power and advanced weaponry) never got the message that help was needed.

This data clearly shows that invasive staff infections, which can infect completely healthy people, is somehow interacting with the messages that typically go from the front line troops to the reinforcements capable of knocking out the problems. Such mechanisms have also been established in the overgrowth of Candida albicans.

Another study on strep infections, which cause sepsis and meningitis in newborn infants, showed that the bacteria were able to cover themselves in sialic acid carbohydrates, in effect donning camouflage that makes them appear as human cells. Furthermore, these bacteria were capable of binding the front-line soldiers so that they could not engulf the invader.

These advanced studies show that there is an ongoing battle of survival, wherein the immune system is constantly working to contain problems and the problems (infectious bacteria) are constantly trying to figure out a way not to be detected.

Obviously infants should be nursed to help them establish a competent immune system. The failure to do so or the inability to do so poses a significant problem for an infant's immune competence. Good parenting would also involve not letting children consume immune-suppressing compounds like too much sugar, food coloring, junk food, and many other chemicals that are typically in poor quality diets.

Germs take the issue of their survival very seriously - to the detriment of you and/or your children. There is no need to help them along and there are many things you can do with nutrition to improve your own or your child's immune response.

Don't count on the government and Big Pharma to invent a vaccine for everything - they will be lucky to ever make a vaccine that works or that doesn't damage a significant number of people who use it.