Final > Disease Control: Vaccines Flashcards
What is meant by the term “variolation”?
Inoculation of smallpox into the skin.
Who coined the term “vaccination”? Why?
Pasteur. Because cowpox was being used against smallpox and vacca = cow (latin?).
What is the definition of a vaccine?
A suspension of organisms or fractions of organisms that induce immunity.
What occurs physiologically in response to a vaccine being administered?
A primary immune response which leads to the formation of antibodies and memory cells (IgM and IgG).
If a person is vaccinated, what occurs upon exposure to the real disease?
A rapid, intense secondary immune response (mainly igG) which shuts that shit right down.
What is herd immunity?
A prevention strategy in which a certain level of vaccination is enough to provide protection for the whole population.
What are the 3 main characteristics of a live attenuated vaccine?
- Weakened pathogen
- Mimics an actual infection
- Lifelong cellular/humoral immunity
What are the 3 main characteristics of an inactivated killed vaccine?
- Safer than live vaccines
- Requires booster doses
- Mostly humoral immunity
What differentiates humoral immunity from cellular immunity?
Humoral: T cells produce antibodies
Cellular: T cells induce host cell apoptosis
What is a subunit vaccine?
One which uses antigenic fragments to stimulate an immune response.
What are the 3 types of subunit vaccine?
- Recombinant vaccines
- Virus-like particle (VLP) vaccines
- Toxoids
What is a recombinant vaccine?
A subunit vaccine produced by genetic modification.
What is a virus-like particle (VLP) vaccine?
A subunit vaccine which contains a particle that resembles an intact virus but contains no viral genetic material.
What is a toxoid?
A subunit vaccine that contains an inactivated toxin.
What is an antitoxin?
A type of toxoid (a subset of subunit vaccines) which contains antibodies against a toxin and can confer short-term inmmunity.