Scientific basis of vaccines Flashcards
What is smallpox caused by?
Caused by Variola
What are the scientific principles from jenners experiment?
- Challenge dose-proves protection from infection
- Concept of attenuation
- Concept that prior exposure to agent boosts protective response
- Cross specific protection-antigenic similarity
What is the eradication of smallpox due to?
- Vaccination programmes
- Case finding(Surveillance)
- Movement control
Why was eradication of smallpox possible?
- No subclinical infection
- After recovery, the virus was eliminated
- No animal reservoir
- Effective vaccine
- Slow spread, poor transmission
What is a vaccine?
Material from an organism that will actively enhance adaptive immunity
What does a vaccine increase the ability of?
Increases the ability of the active immune response to recognise antigens and generate the correct type of immune response that will lead to immunoprotection, not just recognition
What does a vaccine produce and what does this allow and drive?
• Produces an immunologically primed state that allows for rapid secondary immune response on exposure to antigen
Driving T cell memory
What does a vaccine prevent and not prevent?
Prevention of disease but not infection
What does a vaccine require?
Requires immunological memory
Vaccination rationale
- Protection of individual reduces rate and severity of diseases
- Protection of the population results in herd immunity
- Can lead to eradication of disease
- Need a balance between vaccine uptake rate and reservoirs of infection
Once vaccinated, what is natual boosting?
having immune response boosted as a result of exposure to infectious agent in community
What are the 2 types of immunity?
- Active immunity
- Innate immunity
What are the 2 types of immunity?
- Active immunity
- passive immunity
What is the immune response to antigen during primary exposure?
○ 5-7 days –> antibody response
○ 2 weeks for a full response
○ IgM to IgG switching
○ Memory B and T cells
What is the immune response to antigen upon secondary exposure?
2 days for full protective responses
What are the general principles of a vaccine?
- Induce correct type of response
- Induce response in right place
- Duration of protection
- Age of vaccination
Why are antibodies sufficient for infection that exists in gut or bloodstream?
For infections that exist in the gut or bloodstream, antibodies will be sufficient because they will bind to the viruses and neutralise them
Why does a systemic infection need more than just antibodies?
A systemic infection (that lives inside cells) will need more than just antibodies as they cannot get inside the cells so need T cell immunity
What antibody is present in baby milk and how long does it last for?
IgA in milk – lasts for 6 months