the professional Flashcards
what is immunity?
The ability of the human body to protect itself against disease
what is acquired immunity
specific to a certain organism or pathogen
Created an immunological memory, after an initial response to a specific pathogen
what is innate immunity?
Present from Birth
Includes physical barriers, for example the skin, chemical barriers, for example, gastric acid, and phagocytic cells and the complement system
List the two mechanisms for acquiring immunity
Active immunity
Passive immunity
what is passive immunity?
Protection is provided from the transfer of antibodies from immune individuals
Across the placenta
More rarely, transfusion of blood or blood products containing immunoglobulins
what is active immunity?
Protection provided by the bodies own immune response
usually long lasting
Can be acquired through natural disease or by vaccination
What is the definition of vaccination?
The act of introducing a vaccine into the body to produce an immune response to a specific disease
A product that stimulates a persons immune system to produce immunity to a specific disease, protecting that person from the disease
what do vaccines prevent the risk of?
Vaccines generally provide immunity that is similar provided by the natural infection. But without the rest from the disease or it’s complications.
how do vaccines produce their protective affect?
inducing, active immunity
Providing immunological memory
What can vaccines be made from?
inactivated killed organisms
Attenuated live organisms [MMR]
Secreted products [tetanus]
Recombinant components [hepatitis B]
The constituents of cell walls. [Pneumococcal vaccine.]
Tell me about failure in vaccines
no vaccine is 100% effective, small proportion of individuals get infected despite vaccination
Primary failure, when an individual fails to make an initial immunological response to the vaccine
Secondary failure, where an individual response initially, but then the protection Wayne’s overtime
tell me about vaccine side effects [vaccine induced adverse events, following immunization.]
Pain, swelling, redness, episodes of injection
Local adverse reactions
Systemic adverse reactions, for example, fever
Anaphylaxis, whether onset is almost immediate, and potentially fatal
tell me about population immunity
The primary am a vaccination is to protect the individual who received the vaccine, but vaccinated. Individuals are also less likely to be a source of infection to others.
Reduces the risk of unvaccinated individuals being exposed to infection so individuals who cannot be vaccinated still benefit from routine vaccination program
This concept is called , heard immunity
When vaccine coverage is high enough to induce, high levels of population immunity, infections may even be eliminated from a country
What is the economic benefit of a vaccination?
vaccines offer a significant return on investment
Many vaccines will offer a society, a net financial benefit [from the reduction of healthcare expenditure, increases in productivity] more than 10 times higher than the cost of the vaccination
tell me about vaccination policy in the UK
In the UK, there are no mandatory vaccinations
In other countries for example Brazil, there is widespread mandatory vaccination
And some countries, for example America, while they’re in a mandatory vaccinations, 50 states require children to be vaccinated in order for them to access public school
Some other countries require individuals to be vaccinated in order to be eligible for welfare payments
