Immunisation and Notifiable Infectious Diseases

Question 1

What is passive immunity?

Answer 1

• Protection provided from the transfer of antibodies from immune individuals
• Most commonly cross-placental transfer of antibodies from mother to child (e.g. measles, pertussis)
• Or, via transfusion of blood or blood products including immunoglobulin (e.g. Hep B)
• Protection is temporary – usually only a few weeks or months

Question 2

What is active immunisation?

Answer 2

Vaccination stimulates immune response and memory to a specific antigen/infection

Question 3

What are vaccines made from?

Answer 3

• inactivated (killed) (e.g. pertussis, inactivated polio)
• attenuated live organisms (e.g. yellow fever, MMR, polio, BCG)
• secreted products (e.g. tetanus, diphtheria toxoids)
• the constituents of cell walls/subunits (e.g. Hep B) or
• recombinant components (experimental)

Question 4

What is vaccine failure?

Answer 4

• No vaccine offers 100% protection
• Small proportion of individuals get infected despite vaccination

Question 5

What is primary vaccine failure?

Answer 5

person doesn’t develop immunity from vaccine

Question 6

What is secondary vaccine failure?

Answer 6

initially responds but protection wanes over time

Question 7

Give some examples of vaccine preventable (notifiable) diseases

Answer 7

• Acute poliomyelitis
• Diphtheria
• Measles
• Mumps
• Rubella
• Tetanus
• Whooping cough
• Acute Meningitis / Meningococcal septicaemia

Question 8

Which diseases need specific control measures?

Answer 8

• Acute infectious hepatitis
  
  • Can be transmitted through sharing needles or ink
• Foodborne
• Food poisoning
• Botulism
• Enteric fevers
• Infectious bloody diarrhoea
• Scarlet fever
• Tuberculosis

Question 9

What is seen in Group A Streptococcus (GAS) infection?

Answer 9

• Scarlet Fever
  
  • ‘Sandpaper rash’
  • ‘Strawberry tongue’

Question 10

What is a risk setting for GAS?

Answer 10

schools

Question 11

What is typhoid fever caused by?

Answer 11

Salmonella typhi bacteria

Question 12

Who is at risk for typhoid fever?

Answer 12

food handlers, health & care staff, young children, doubtful hygiene

Question 13

What are risk factors for hepatitis B virus?

Answer 13

travel, medical procedures, infected mother-to-child, blood products

Question 14

Who are at risk for hepatitis B virus?

Answer 14

MSMs, sex workers, IV drug users, health workers, prisoners

Question 15

What is Legionnaires disease caused by?

Answer 15

• Legionella pneumophila
  bacteria
• Hunting for a source!