Pfizer vaccine Flashcards
What is Phase 3 trial?
During phase three vaccine trials the emphasis for drugmakers is on both determining the efficacy and the safety of a vaccine.
[FOCUS IS ON DETERMINING EFFICACY & SAFTEY OF VACCINE]
How this vaccine works?
Unlike traditional vaccines, which work by training the body to recognise and kill proteins produced by pathogens, mRNA tricks the patient’s immune system to produce viral proteins itself. The proteins are harmless, but sufficient to provoke a robust immune response.
[PFIZER MADHE AHE MRNA -> TO BODY LA VIRAL PROTEIN BANVAYALA LAVTO -> VIRAL PROTEIN MULE BODY IS PROVOKED TO CREATE ROBUST IMMUNE RESPONSE]
What is RT-PCR testing?
-real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR)
[REAL TIME POLYMERASE CHAIN REACTION]
- It is primarily based on PCR, a process that repeatedly copies and amplifies the specific genetic fragments of the virus, ensuring that there is enough of a sample to conduct the analysis.
[AMPLIFYING OF GENETIC MATERIAL(i.e. RNA) OF VIRUS -> MHNJE ANALYSIS KARAYALA SOPPA JAEEL -> VIRUS CHA ASA PART GHETALA JATO ITHE JO EASILY MUTATE HOT NASEL ]
- The RT-PCR test starts with a simple swab taken from inside a person’s throat or nose. Coronaviruses have RNA or ribonucleic acid as their genetic material. However, swabs from patients yield only a tiny quantity of RNA, which is not adequate for the testing process.
- To overcome this problem, the RNA — a single-strand molecule — is converted into a two-strand DNA using an enzyme. This is known as reverse transcription.
[RNA CONVERTED TO DNA-> BY REVERSE TRANSCRIPTION]
- Researchers select specific areas in the genome that do not mutate rapidly as the virus evolves, and create copies of these using the PCR process.
- The next step is the use of primers. These are small pieces of DNA designed only to bind to the selected DNA sequence of the SARS-CoV-2’s viral genome. Along with primers, the process uses a fluorescent dye, which acts as the probe.
- The patient sample, primer and probe are together left in the PCR machine for the binding process to take place. A fluorescent signal marks the presence of the virus.
[PATIENT GENOME SAMPLE + PRIMER + PROBE -> EKATRA PCR SATHI TAKALE JATAT -> FLUROSCENT SIGNAL -> PRESENCE OF VIRUS]
- time duration for the testing process is around four to eight hours, but results may take up to a day to arrive
[TEST DURATION = 4-8 HRS]
What is Antigen testing?How it is done?
-give results in 30 minutes.
-These tests are designed to detect a specific protein in the virus that evokes the body’s immune response.
-In the case of Covid-19, it is the ‘spike protein’ present on the surface of the coronavirus that facilitates its entry into the human cell.
-For this test, professionals collect a nasal swab, which is then immersed in a solution that deactivates the virus.
-A few drops of this solution are then put on a test strip.
- test strips contain artificial antibodies designed to bind to coronavirus proteins. If a person is infected with coronavirus, the test lines will appear on the paper strips within 15 minutes.
[SWAB TAKEN -> IMMERSED IN SOLUTION TO DEACTIVATE VIRUS ->FEW DROPS OF SOLUTION PUT ON STRIP THAT HAS ANTIBODIES TO BIND COVID PROTEINS -> LINE APPEARS IF COVID PRESENT]
- Since antigen testing does not involve any amplification process, swab samples may lack enough antigen material to be detectable. This may result in false negative tests.
- For this reason, if a person tests negative through antigen testing, they still need to get an RT-PCR test done for confirmation. If a person tests positive, however, a confirmation RT-PCR is not required.
[VIRUS CHYA GENETIC MATERIAL CHA AMPLIFICATION KELELA NASTA ITHE ->MHANUN JAR TEST NEGATIVE ALI TAR RT-PCR KARAVI LAGATE]
What is Antibody testing(AKA Serological testing)?How itis done?
- To detect whether a person has antibodies to the virus.
- Antibodies are naturally produced by the body’s immune system to fight off infections. Antibody tests cannot be used to diagnose Covid-19, but can reveal whether a person was recently exposed to the virus.
- For the antibody test, trained professionals collect a few drops of blood. The sample is placed on a cassette or cartridge that contains the SARS-CoV-2 proteins.
- If the blood samples contain antibodies, they will immediately bind to the viral proteins. The positive result is indicated in the form of lines, like a home pregnancy test.
[BLOOD DROPS COLLECTED -> PLACED ON STRIP HAVING COVID PROTEINS -> IF BLOOD HAS ANTIBODIES THEY WILL BIND TO VIRAL PROTEINS]
What are antigens?
Antigens are substances that cause an immune response in the body by identifying substances in or markers on cells. Your body produces antibodies to fight antigens, or harmful substances, and tries to eliminate them.
[PRESENCE OF SUBSTANCES THAT CAUSES IMMUNE RESPONSE IN BODY]
How human immune system works?
-The immune systems in our bodies protect us from bacteria, viruses, and parasites by removing them from our systems.
-The immune system gets activated by things that the body does not recognise as its own.
[IMMUNE SYSTEM ACTIVATED BY THINGS THAT BODY DOES NOT RECOGNISE AS IT’S OWN i.e. ANTIGENS -> LIKE VIRUS,BACTERIA]
- These things are called antigens, and include bacteria, fungi and viruses.
- An effective immune system response involves inflammation, an important and indispensable part of the process.
[IMMUNE RESPONSE TRIGERRED -> INFLAMMATION ->IF INFLAMMATION GOES OUT OF HAND ->CYTOKINE STORM ,WHICH CAN LEAD TO DEATH]
-This is visible when, for example, you hurt your knee or ankle — the area of this external injury becomes red and swollen, and the immune system in response deploys white blood cells to the injured area to begin work on repairs.
-Without such an immune response, injuries would not heal, and infections would become deadly.
-Inflammation has an important protective function. The release of inflammatory mediators increases the blood flow to the area, which allows larger numbers of immune system cells to be carried to the injured tissue, thereby aiding the repairing process.
-However, if this inflammatory response is not regulated, very dangerous consequences can follow.
This is when a ‘cytokine storm’ can be triggered.
The damage to the surrounding cells can be catastrophic, leading to sepsis and potentially, death.
What are Lymphocytes?
-White blood cells known as lymphocytes arise from mitosis of stem cells in the bone marrow. Some lymphocytes migrate to the thymus and become T cells that circulate in the blood and are associated with the lymph nodes and spleen.
[WHITE BLOOD CELLS]
[WBCs @ THYMUS = T CELLS = CONTROL CELL MEDIATED IMMUNITY -> DEFENDS INFECTED CELLS]
[WBCs @ BONE MARROW = B CELLS = CONTROL ANTIBODY MEDIATED IMMUNITY -> DEFEND AGAINST INVADING VIRUS & BACTERIA]
- B cells remain in the bone marrow develop before moving into the circulatory and lymph systems. B cells produce antibodies.
- Antibody-mediated (humoral) immunity is regulated by B cells and the antibodies they produce. Cell-mediated immunity is controlled by T cells.
- Antibody-mediated reactions defend against invading viruses and bacteria. Cell-mediated immunity concerns cells in the body that have been infected by viruses and bacteria, protect against parasites, fungi, and protozoans, and also kill cancerous body cells.
What is mRNA technology?
Without mRNA, your genetic code would never get used by your body. Proteins would never get made. And your body wouldn’t – actually couldn’t – perform its functions. Messenger ribonucleuc acid, or mRNA for short, plays a vital role in human biology, specifically in a process known as protein synthesis. mRNA is a single-stranded molecule that carries genetic code from DNA in a cell’s nucleus to ribosomes, the cell’s protein-making machinery.
[mRNA IS IMPORTANT IN PROTEIN MAKING (i.e.PROTEIN SYNTHESIS) ; USING GENETIC CODE ; FUNCTIONING OF BODY
difference b/w working of traditional vaccine & mRNA vaccine?
Unlike traditional vaccines, which work by training the body to recognise and kill proteins produced by pathogens, mRNA tricks the patient’s immune system to produce viral proteins itself.
[mRNA = BODY LACH VIRAL PROTEIN BANVAYALA LAVATO;
TRADITIONAL = SWATACH PROTEIN PROVIDE KARATE]
Working of traditional vaccines?
Traditional vaccines are made up of small or inactivated doses of the whole disease-causing organism, or the proteins that it produces, which are introduced into the body to provoke the immune system into mounting a response.
[BASICALLY TRAINING BODIES TO RECOGNISE & KILL PATHOGEN PROTEINS -> TI VACCINE SWATACH HE PROTEIN PROVIDE KARATE]
