Disease Prevention - Use Of Medicines + Public Health (Population Health) - Part 2

Question 1

How do vaccinations work?

Answer 1

• provide protect effect by inducing active immunity + making the immune system remember the disease
• production of antibodies - to fight invaders
• immunological memory - immune system = able to recognise + act quickly when it is exposed to the natural infection at a later date + means disease is prevented/less aggressive

Question 2

What is a vaccination?

Answer 2

• a weakened form of the disease germ injected into the body

Question 3

What are types of vaccines (can be made from)?

Answer 3

• inactivated (killed) organisms
• attenuated live organisms
• secreted products
• organism components
• constituents of cell walls
• RNA/DNA proteins - generated much quicker (new)

Question 4

What are advantages of vaccinations?

Answer 4

• simple
• protect people who can’t have vaccination (herd immunity)
• saves time off work
• protects future generations
• helps prevent disease that can’t be cured
• cost effective
• safe

Question 5

What are disadvantages of vaccinations?

Answer 5

• no vaccine = 100% protection + small proportion of individuals get infected despite vaccination
• may not cover all strains e.g. flu, COVID
• possible side effects
• painful injections
• cost e.g. human papilloma virus £140
• boosters injections = inconvenient, forgetting

Question 6

What is vaccine hesitancy?

Answer 6

• where people with access to vaccines delay/ refuse vaccination
• one of the biggest threats to global health
• “no one is safe until everyone is safe”

Question 7

What is herd/population immunity?

Answer 7

• vaccinated individuals = less likely to be a source of infection to others so reduced risk of people who aren’t vaccinated from being exposed to infection
• meaning individuals who cannot be vaccinated will still benefit from the routine vaccination program
• lower take up of vaccine - reduces the chance of a disease being eliminated
• pockets of low vaccination allows the infectious diseases to spread + vulnerable patients to catch disease

Question 8

What happens in an increasing vaccination model?

Answer 8

• motivation, looking at what people think + feel and social processes + the norm
• then practical issues come about e.g.vaccine availability, costs
• then vaccination, e.g. schedule appointment

Question 9

How to increase vaccinations?

Answer 9

• through health workers
• information provision (confidence in actions)
• communication tools for difficult discussions
• trust between HCP + health authorities (keeping them in the loop)
• understanding the motivation s behind having/not having vaccines

Question 10

What are flu vaccination benefits?

Answer 10

• government campaign to vaccinate healthcare workers against influenza to protect the vulnerable
• saving of £12 per vaccination when health care workers are vaccinated
• primary benefits = measured in mortality/morbidity due to influenza in high risk contacts
• secondary outcomes - reduced absenteeism due to vaccination

Question 11

What does attenuated mean?

Answer 11

An infectious disease that has been weakened but is still alive, so can be used as a vaccine, not causing disease

Question 12

What is a screening?

Answer 12

• a way of identifying apparently healthy people who may have an increased risk of a particular condition

Question 13

What is a booster?

Answer 13

• an additional dose of a vaccine given to raise/maintain a level of immunity

Question 14

What is transmission?

Answer 14

• the transfer of a disease from person to person