C - Fighting Disease - Vaccination

Question 1

What does a vaccination do?

Answer 1

Protects from future infections

Question 2

What does a vaccination involve?

Answer 2

They involve injecting small amounts of DEAD or INACTIVE MICROORGANISMS which carry antigens which cause your body to produce antibodies to attach them- even though the microorganism is harmless.

Question 3

What would an MMR (what does it stand for?) vaccine do?

Answer 3

It would contain weakened versions of the viruses that cause measles, mumps and rubella so that if live microorganisms of the same type appear again, the white blood cells can mass produce antibodies

Question 4

Some vaccinations “wear off” after time, and so a _____ injection may need to be given to increase levels of antibodies again

Answer 4

Booster

Question 5

What are the advantages of vaccination? (2)

Answer 5

• Helped control lots of infectious diseases that were once common
• They can help stop epidemics if a large percentage is vaccinated

Question 6

What is an epidemic?

Answer 6

A big outbreak of disease

Question 7

What are the disadvantages of vaccinations? (2)

Answer 7

• They don’t always work - they don’t always give you IMMUNITY
• People can sometimes get a bad reaction to a vaccine, but they are rare