Question

Write a note on Vaccination.

Answer 1

1. Administration of vaccine (i.e. inactivated pathogen or antigenic protection of particular pathogen) to protect against a particular pathogen, is called vaccination.
2. Normally, the body’s immune system helps to protect against pathogens that cause infection.
3. However, some pathogens can overwhelm the immune system. This results in serious illness.
4. The pathogens most likely to cause illness, are the ones the body doesn’t recognize and which go undetected by the immune system.
5. Vaccination is a method in which the immune system is exposed to a safe antigenic preparation that helps it recognize and eliminate a pathogenic organism when it is encountered.
6. Vaccination is an important form of primary prevention, that can protect people from getting sick.
7. Vaccination has helped control deadly diseases like measles, polio, tetanus, and whooping cough.
8. It also primes immune cells to remember the types of antigens, allowing a faster response to the pathogen in future encounters.

9. Vaccines work by exposing a person to a safe version of a pathogen.

10. The different forms of vaccines are as follows:

    a. A protein or sugar from the pathogen.

    b. A dead or inactivated form of a pathogen

    c. A toxoid containing toxin produced by a pathogen.

11. A weakened (attenuated) pathogen. When the body responds to the vaccine, it builds an adaptive immune response. This helps to equip the body to fight off an actual infection.

12. The more people that are vaccinated, the more protected the individuals and the society are against diseases by a phenomenon known as herd immunity.