Vaccinology

Question 1

What is one reason multiple vaccinations are given against the same pathogen, especially in infants?

Answer 1

Because passive immunity (antibodies) from mother may interfere with the work of the vaccine.

Question 2

Why do we give multiple administrations of the polio vaccine?

Answer 2

It contains three strains, but generally they interfere with each other and only one grows (usually Strain 2). Conferring immunity to the other strains requires readministration

Question 3

Why is heat not a good method for making inactivated vaccine?

Answer 3

It denatures the proteins (Ab cant recognize it now)

Question 4

What type of immunity do you get with attenuated vaccines and inactivated vaccines respectively?

Answer 4

Attenuated - humoral and cell-mediated immunity, inactivated - mainly humoral immunity

Question 5

What are attenuated, inactivated, subunit, and recombinant antigen vaccines?

Answer 5

Attenuated - making a non-virulent but otherwise working version of the virus, inactivated - taking a normal version of the virus and killing it, subunit - purifying a macromolecule component of the virus and using that, recombinant - making a protein in vitro with a safe organism

Question 6

Adjuvants

Answer 6

Compounds added to vaccine preparations intended to enhance immunogenicity

Question 7

What is the only traditional adjuvant in humans?

Answer 7

Alum (aluminum phosphate sulfate, concentrates antigen at a site, enhances phagocytosis)

Question 8

Name an experimental adjuvant and what it does it do?

Answer 8

ISCOM. It is a detergent which surrounds the vaccine molecule and allows it to enter cells (by fusing with membrane). This grants vaccine access to MHC Class I pathway (requires access to cytosol)

Question 9

Are repeated immunizations required for pathogens that have short incubation periods or long incubation periods?

Answer 9

Short incubation periods (because you have to retain high levels of antibody since memory T and B cells take too long to respond)

Question 10

Cholera is unique in that only a certain type of vaccine administration has been shown to be effective. What is this type of administration?

Answer 10

Only oral vaccines are effective

Question 11

Examples of attenuated vaccines

Answer 11

Measles, mumps, rubella (MMR), polio (Sabin)

Question 12

Examples of inactivated vaccines

Answer 12

Cholera, influenza, polio (salk)

Question 13

What is an example of a subunit vaccine?

Answer 13

Pertussis

Question 14

Two examples of recombinant antigen vaccines

Answer 14

Foot and Mouth disease, Hepatitis B

Question 15

Two examples of recombinant vector vaccines

Answer 15

Adenovirus and vaccinia virus

Question 16

What is the difference between recombinant antigen viruses and recombinant vector viruses?

Answer 16

In both cases a recombinant bacteria (or virus) which synthesizes an antigen is made. In antigen vaccines the protein is taken from the bacteria and injected, in vector vaccines, the whole bacteria is injected into vaccinee