Opinion: Men and women may respond differently to vaccines. Research needs to account for that
Two days after getting my second dose of the Moderna mRNA vaccine as part of a clinical trial, my body was still mounting a robust immune response when, from the floor of my son’s bathroom, I frantically telephoned the clinical research site at the University of Illinois.
The region of my brain that controls thermoregulation, the hypothalamus, likely detected the flood of vaccine-induced copies of viral proteins in my bloodstream and cranked up my internal thermostat to 104.7 degrees F, a fever high enough to make me feel delirious. The trial’s principal investigator called in a prescription for an anti-nausea medication and two bags of IV fluid, which a mobile service gave me at home to stabilize me.
