Welcome to the latest issue of The Lowdown. With influenza season, COVID-19, and all the talk of vaccination, I am dedicating this edition to vaccine basics: how they work, types of vaccines, and the impact vaccines have had on history. Remember, it is easier to prevent a disease than to treat it! Happy reading!
Vaccines Through History
Vaccine development and vaccination have been said to be among the most important discoveries in medicine—having saved millions of lives!
Vaccination and Inoculation and Immunization, Oh My!
To help clarify some of the terms that may be used interchangeably or inaccurately, a list of definitions is provided.
- Immunity: Protection from an infectious disease. If immune, a person can be exposed to the disease without becoming infected. Immunity to a disease is achieved through the presence of antibodies to that disease in a person’s system.2
- Vaccine: A product that stimulates a person’s immune system to produce immunity to a specific disease, protecting the person from that disease.2
- Vaccination: The act of introducing a vaccine into the body to produce immunity to a specific disease.2
- Immunization: A process by which a person becomes protected against a disease through vaccination.2
- Inoculation: A process of producing immunity and a method of vaccination in which the infectious agent is introduced onto an abraded or absorptive skin surface.3
- Active Immunity: Exposure to a disease organism triggers the immune system to produce antibodies to that disease. This occurs through natural immunity or vaccine-induced immunity. It is long- lasting and may be lifelong.2
- Passive Immunity: A person is given antibodies to a disease rather than producing them. Examples of these are a newborn baby acquires passive immunity from its mother through the placenta or a person is given antibody-containing blood products.2
- Natural Immunity: Protection results from exposure to the disease organism through infection with the actual disease.2
- Vaccine-Induced Immunity: Protection results from the introduction of a killed or weakened form of the disease organism through vaccination.2
- Immunologic Memory: The ability of the immune system to quickly and rapidly recognize an antigen the body has previously encountered and initiate a corresponding immune response.2,4
How Vaccines Work
The vaccine is introduced into the body. This causes the immune system to begin producing antibodies to fight the disease and prevent infection, resulting in immunity and immunologic memory similar to that derived from natural infection but without the risk of having the actual disease. It takes approximately two weeks to develop immunity after vaccination.2
Types of Vaccine
Vaccines are designed to teach the immune system how to fight the targeted disease. To determine what type of vaccine will be developed, researchers look at who should be vaccinated, how the immune system responds to the pathogen, and what is the best way to create and deliver the vaccine.2,5
Herd or Community Immunity
Vaccines can prevent disease outbreaks and save lives. If the majority of a community is immunized against a contagious disease there is a greatly reduced chance of an outbreak. This helps protect people unable to be vaccinated because the spread of the disease is contained.2
Resources
- www.historyofvaccines.org
- www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vac-gen/imz-basics.htm
- www.britannica.com/science/inoculation
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK27158
- www.vaccines.gov/basics/types
