Vaccines Flashcards
Who was Edward Jenner and why is he important?
Edward Jenner was an english physician who discovered the smallpox vaccine and made a link between cowpox and smallpox
What did Edward Jenner do to prove his smallpox theory?
He gave an eight year old boy a pathogen that causes the cowpox disease and waited for him to recover. Then he gave the boy the smallpox pathogen. The boy did not develop smallpox as the cowpox vaccine made him immune to smallpox
Why did the cowpox vaccine make you immune to smallpox?
The antigens in cowpox was highly similar to the antigens in the smallpox disease. Hence the body recognized the pathogen and quickly produced the antibody as it thought it was attacked once before
Why do we consider Edward Jenner’s method unethical?
He purposely endangered a little boy’s life by putting a deadly disease into him with no proper controls or scientific evidence to back it up
What are antigens?
Antigens are surface proteins that identify a cell
What are antibodies?
Antibodies are chemicals made by the lymphocytes to protect the body from pathogens
What is the difference between a vaccine and immunisation?
A vaccine contains the dead/weak pathogens that are injecting into the body to immunise a person. Immunisation is the process of giving a vaccine to cause an immune response in the body
What are the risks of immunisations?
Some people get a mild fever
Some may experience an allergic reaction
Very rarely a person has a major reaction
What are the benefits of immunisation?
Immunity is produced without being ill
It lasts a long time- often for life
If more than 90% of the population is vaccinated, then the rest don’t need to
