Vaccines and Immunization
- Imagine a world without vaccines.
- Diseases like smallpox, polio, and measles would still be rampant, causing widespread suffering and death.
- Vaccines have transformed global health, but how do they work?
- Think of a vaccine as a training session for your immune system.
- It prepares your body to fight a pathogen without exposing you to the full-blown disease.
What Is a Vaccine?
Definition
Vaccine
Vaccines are biological preparations that contain antigens or nucleic acids (DNA or RNA) from a pathogen.
- A vaccine is a biological preparation designed to stimulate the immune system to recognize and fight specific pathogens.
- It does this by introducing antigens or genetic material (DNA or RNA) that codes for antigens.
Types of Vaccines
- Live Attenuated Vaccines
- Contain a weakened form of the pathogen.
- Stimulate a strong immune response.
- Examples: Measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine.
- Inactivated Vaccines
- Contain a killed form of the pathogen.
- Safer for people with weakened immune systems.
- Examples: Polio and influenza vaccines.
- Subunit Vaccines
- Contain specific antigens (usually proteins) from the pathogen.
- Focus the immune response on key targets.
- Examples: Hepatitis B and HPV vaccines.
- Nucleic Acid Vaccines (DNA or RNA)
- Contain genetic instructions for making an antigen.
- Human cells produce the antigen, triggering an immune response.
- Examples: COVID-19 vaccines like Pfizer/BioNTech (mRNA).
- Vaccines do not cause the disease they protect against.
- They mimic infection to train the immune system.
