Ch 18 Practical Applications of Immunology Flashcards
what is a vaccine?
contains inactive/weakened versions of organisms or fractions of organisms used to induce immunity
what is immunity?
Ability of an organism to resist a particular infection or toxin
How are monoclonal antibodies different from what is produced in the human body? (hint: the human body produces polyclonal antibodies)
monoclonal antibodies: producing antibodies, proliferating and are also undying
polyclonal antibodies: Can only do undying OR proliferate antibodies (not both)
How are monoclonal antibodies formed?
Combination of “immortal” cancerous B cell + antibody producing normal B cell
Formed in a lab setting
What is molecular mimicry? How does this phenomenon make working with antibodies difficult?
When two very different antigens share a common epitope
This can even occur between a pathogen and a self cell’s antigen creating autoimmune reactions (attacking the self cell, by mistaking it for the pathogen it mimicked)
What is seroconversion?
Time period during which a specific antibody
develops and becomes detectable in the
blood
What is a titer?
Concentration of serum antibody (high titer = greater immunity to disease)
What does the abbreviation ELISA stand for?
Enzyme linked immunosorbent assay
What are the two basic types of ELISAs?
direct ELISA
indirect ELISA
Describe direct ELISA
Detects antigens
sandwich of antibody/drug/enzyme-linked antibody
describe indirect ELISA
detects antibodies
sandwich of virus/antibody/enzyme-linked-anti-HISG
You should know in general why we give a vaccine and the importance of them
there are minimal risks of getting vaccines, but the benefits will always outweigh the risks. the benefits being that the ultimate goal of vaccines is to reduce severity of disease and reduce death rates.
what is involved in a live attenuated vaccine?
uses a living pathogen with reduced virulence (is weakened)
What vaccine type uses a weakened version of the pathogen?
Live attenuated vaccine
Which two types of vaccines use the entire pathogen? These are called cellular vaccines
- Live attenuated use the entire pathogen- it is just a weakened version
- Inactivated killed vaccine use the entire pathogen- it is just killed used chemicals, the entire pathogen is injected and cannot replicate in the body.
Why is a live attenuated vaccine more effective at eliciting strong immune responses and good memory?
- Live attenuated vaccines use a weakened version of the pathogen.
- This means the organism is still alive and able to replicate in the host but not cause disease.
- Since it replicates in the host it will activate both the humoral (B cells) and the cellular (T cells) branches of the adaptive immune system.
- Producing memory cells from both B and T cells will allow for a more robust response if you ever encounter the pathogen again
Which types of vaccines DO NOT use the entire pathogen? These are called acellular vaccines.
All the other vaccines besides live attenuated and inactivated killed. So, subunit (toxoids, conjugated etc.) and nucleic acid
what is involved with subunit vaccines?
contain only selected antigen fragments either by use of bacteria/viral components or recombinant vaccines
what are recombinant vaccines?
type of subunit vaccine which are created by genetically modifying a nonpathogenic microbe to produce an antigenic fraction
what are the types of subunit vaccines?
- recombinant vaccines
- conjugated vaccines
- toxoids
- virus-like particle vaccines
Why is it necessary to offer a conjugated vaccine?
Since children are still developing their immune systems- they might have a weak response to certain antigens. A conjugated vaccine attaches a small antigen with a larger stronger antigen as a carrier. This will elicit a stronger immune response than if the smaller antigen was introduced by itself
which types were nucleic acid vaccines?
mRNA and the viral vector vaccines.
For example: Pfizer and Moderna Covid-19 Vaccines are mRNA and Johnson and Johnson is a viral vector vaccine. Both utilize nucleic acids as a major component of the vaccine that will transcribe and translate a specific protein (for covid-19: the spike protein) that will elicit an immune response, producing memory B and T cells.
What is heard immunity?
resistance to the spread of an infectious disease within a population that is based on pre-existing immunity of a high proportion of individuals as a result of previous infection or vaccination.
How would you explain the important of vaccines to a patient?
Vaccines help train the immune system to create a memory of the pathogen so that if it is ever encountered again, the immune system can destroy it before a person gets sick. If people get vaccinated enough it will create herd immunity which prevents the spread of more viruses. THe benefits outweigh the risks of getting vaccinated
what types of vaccines Pfizer, Moderna, and Johnson and Johnson fall under for SARS-CoV-2?
mRNA - Pfizer and Moderna Covid-19 Vaccines
viral vector vaccines - Johnson and Johnson
Both utilize nucleic acids as a major component of the vaccine that will transcribe and translate a specific protein (for covid-19: the spike protein) that will elicit an immune response, producing memory B and T cells.
What type of ELISA test is used for an at-home COVID test?
Direct ELISA
An HiV test is what kind of ELISA test?
Indirect ElISA
An ELISA test can be direct or indirect. Give an example of what an ELISA test might screen for (3 examples)
- Drugs
- Pregnancy
- SARS-Cov-2
What concerns might the parents have regarding vaccine safety?
Parents might be concerend that the vaccine could make their child sick, have bad side effects, allergic reaction, cause autisim
True or False
In a vaccine preperation, the term “attenuated” means that the agent does NOT replicate
False
