Vaccination

Question 1

Why vaccinate

Answer 1

• When infected with a new pathogen it can take a few days for white blood cells to learn how to deal with it, by which time you’ll already be feeling pretty ill.
• with a vaccination you can produce memory cells and your white blood cells learn how to kill the inactive pathogens so that when there’s an active one, your immune system can deal with it

Question 2

How does a vaccination work

Answer 2

-inject a small amount of dead or inactive pathogens
- these pathogens carry antigens which cause your body to produce anti bodies to attack them
- once the pathogens are killed your body produces memory cells, so that your body knows what antibodies to produce for the next infection
- The second time you’re infected with the same virus your memory cells are able to recognise and react to the antigens on the pathogens because they have seen it before
- Therefore antibodies can be produce: Faster, in larger numbers and last for a longer time

Question 3

Pros to vaccines

Answer 3

• can help prevent epidemics: less people are able to catch the virus if vaccinated against it= less people to spread it
• it can control common communicable diseases

Question 4

Cons to vaccines

Answer 4

• Some vaccines don’t work, sometimes they don’t give you immunity
• sometimes you can have a bad reaction to a vaccine (e.g. sweeping, fevers or seizures) but this is rare