Vaccinology

Question 1

How many lives are saved each year by the use of vaccines?

Answer 1

10-100s of millions.

Question 2

What reasons may one have for being anti-vaccine?

Answer 2

Reasons for this view include; complacency, ignorance, arrogance, religion, or solipsism.

Question 3

Generally, how do vaccines work?

Answer 3

Vaccines induce protective immunity. Protective immunity is an enhanced adaptive immune response to re-infection. Vaccines can be and are mainly used to, prevent or ameliorate the effects of a future infection by a natural pathogen.

Question 4

As well as being preventative, how else can vaccines be used?

Answer 4

They are also used to treat or ameliorate an existing condition. For this, there are cancer vaccines and addiction vaccines.

Question 5

What is variolation?

Answer 5

This is an ancient practice that was used throughout the world before vaccination was developed. It involved transferring pus from a survivors scab to an uninfected person. There is no consensus on why this worked; the route of administration, attenuation, passive immunization, the virus killed by transfer, or all of the above?

Question 6

What types of vaccine are there?

Answer 6

LIve attenuated, inactivated or killed pathogen, subunit or toxoid, carbohydrate.

Question 7

Give some examples of live attenuated vaccines.

Answer 7

• BCG vs TB.
• Mumps vaccine.
• Oral Sabin polio vaccine.
• Varicella vaccine.
• Rubella vaccine.

Question 8

Give some examples of inactivated or killed pathogen vaccines.

Answer 8

• Flu vaccine.
• Cholera vaccine.
• Older pertussis vaccine.
• Salk polio vaccine.
• Plague vaccine.
• Rabies vaccine.

Question 9

Give some examples of subunit or toxoid vaccines.

Answer 9

• Newer pertussis vaccine.
• Diphtheria vaccine.
• Tetanus toxin.
• Hepatitis B vaccine.
• Lyme disease vaccine.

Question 10

Give some examples of carbohydrate vaccines.

Answer 10

• Haemophilus B vaccine.
• Newer typhoid vaccines.
• Pneumococcal vaccine.
• Meningococcal vaccine.

Question 11

What three parts make up a vaccine?

Answer 11

A biological componment, a delivery mechanism, an adjuvant.

Question 12

What can make up the biological component of vaccines?

Answer 12

Whole organisms, proteins, carbohydrates.

Question 13

What can make up the adjuvant component of vaccines?

Answer 13

Alum, A5009, A5008, MB666, Experimental adjuvants.

Question 14

What can make up the delivery mechanism component of vaccines?

Answer 14

Raw, recombinant proteins, live viral vector, naked DNA, loaded onto APCs, liposomes.

Question 15

What are adjuvants?

Answer 15

Adjuvants massively increase the immune response and promote immune system inducing memory.