Vaccines Flashcards
What is a vaccine?
A dead or weakned pathogen
How do vaccines work?
- body is injected with vaccine
- white blood cells stimulated to produce antibodies against the dead or weakened pathogen
- if body is injected with the same pathogen, body can respond to it quicker and white blood cells are prepared
-memory cells remember the shape of the antigen on the pathogen and respond by making more of the right type of antibodies quicker
What is herd immunity
High percentage (95%) of the public are vaccinated against the disease
What drug do foxgloves make?
-heart drug digitalis
What drug does willow tree make?
-aspirin
What is penicillin made from?
Penicillium mould
Who is pre clinical testing done on?
Animals
What does pre clinical testing test for?
-efficacy
-toxicity
What is toxicity?
- how harmful drug is (side effects)
What is efficacy?
- how will drug works (effect looking for)
Who is clinical testing done on?
- healthy human volunteers
What happens during clinical testing and what does it check for?
- drug is given in low doses to healthy human volunteers
-to check for any side effects
What happens if the drug is safe?
-tested for optimum dosage (most effective with least side effects)
What does testing on patients who have the illness do?
-tests for efficacy and dosage of the drug needed to treat people w the illness
What is a placebo?
- fake drug used in a control group
