Explaining the immune system to anti-vaxxers using pizza

Ohh anti-vaxxers, why do you trouble me so?

As a body of scientifically literate individuals, we have the responsibility to set the record straight in regards to the immune system. I present a method which some may find helpful in this quest.

First, imagine we have three viruses.

The pepperoni pizza virus.

The pineapple pizza virus.

And the basil pizza virus.

What do all of the virus's have in common - cheese, sauce, and a crust. These ingredients are seen among all viruses, but do not cause an immune response specific to one virus.

What are the differences - the pepperoni, pineapple, and basil.

Therefor, if we eat the pepperoni our body reacts to those red delicious round slices and creates an immune response specific to the pepperoni pizza virus. Likewise, if we feed the body pineapple or basil, we will develop a response specifically to the pineapple pizza virus and the basil pizza virus.

Now I ask everyone? Is it unnatural to give someone a chunk of pineapple so that they become immune to the pineapple pizza virus? The answer - no. Whether the pineapple is on the pizza, or in a solution we inject, at the end of the day, it's pineapple that our body is ingesting.

In reality, vaccines are the same as the pizza example above. We take a chunk of the virus, a unique protein, and inject it into the body. The immune system then respond as we would to an actual infection and creates antibodies. The virus cannot invade our cells to hijack the machinery for replication because we only have one part of the virus. Therefor, we do not become sick. When the actual virus enters our body, our body already contains the antibodies needed to kill the virus before it can terrorize our cells.