Vaccination

Question 1

What is passive immunity?

Answer 1

• the introduction of antibodies into individuals from an outside source without direct contact to a pathogen or antigen
• immunity is therefore aquired immediately and there is no long-lasting immunity as no memory cells are produced

Question 2

What is active immunity?

Answer 2

-Immunity produced by stimulating the production of antibodies by the individuals own immune system
- there is direct contact and immunity is long lasting
- However, immunity takes time as an immune response is needed

Question 3

What are the four types of immunity?

Answer 3

• active immunity
• passive immunity
• natural active immunity
• Artificial active immunity

Question 4

What is natural active immunity?

Answer 4

• Immunity where someone is infected with a disease in a natural circumstance and produces their own antibodies

Question 5

What is artificial active immunity?

Answer 5

• Immunity from vaccination which induces an immune response

Question 6

What is vaccination?

Answer 6

-The introduction of an antigen, stimulating an immune response
- the immune response is slight as only a small amount of an antigen is used
- memory cells are then produced, providing long lasting immunity

Question 7

What makes a successful vaccination programme?

Answer 7

• If the vaccine is economically viable in sufficient quantities for a vunerable population
• how severe the side effects are
• the means of adminstering the vaccine
• if its possible to vaccinate most of the population and achieve herd immunity

Question 8

What is herd immunity?

Answer 8

• herd immunity is when a sufficient large proportion of a population is vaccinated,making it difficult for a pathogen to spread in a population
• this is because when a vast majority of a population is immune, it becomes highly unlikely that a susceptible individual will get in contact with an infected person, therefore people who are not vaccinated are still protected

Question 9

Why might a vaccine not eliminate a disease?

Answer 9

• people may have defective immune systems
• individuals may develop the disease after vaccination before their immunity is high enough to prevent it
• the pathogen may mutate frequently so its antigens change. This means the vaccine is ineffective. An example of this is influenza
• there may be many variants of pathogens
• certain pathogens hide and conceal themselves
• there may be objections to taking the vaccine

Question 10

What are the ethics of vaccination?

Answer 10

• the production of vaccines involves the usage of animals
• Vaccines have side effects
• Individuals have to risk their lives in order to test the vaccine and undergo trials
• The vaccine may be tested on a country with unknown health risks
• Vaccines being compulsory may cause issues as people may opt out due to religous or medical circumstances
• vaccination programmes are very expensive
• the health risks of vaccines need to balanced against the positives