L9 - Vaccinations

objectives

• Understand how vaccination results in the manufacture of memory cells, which enable future antibody production to the pathogen to occur sooner, faster and in greater quantity

Vaccination

• People can be immunised against a pathogen through vaccination.
• Different vaccines are needed for different pathogens. It can be used against both bacteria and viruses.
• Vaccination involves putting a small amount of an inactive or dead form of a pathogen into the body via injection.
• REMEMBER - Lymphocytes produce antibodies to destroy the pathogens, and lymphocytes will form memory cells. Then your body will respond rapidly to future infections by the same pathogen by making this same antibody.

Primary and Secondary Responses

On the second infection your body remembers the antigens and microbe -

Memory cells produce large quantities of antibodies very quickly and you will probably not even get a runny nose!

Vaccines help our bodies by helping us to produce these antibodies in our memory cells!

Vaccines - Miracle or Murderous?

Vaccines have been hyped as one of the most successful advances of modern medicine, yet an increasing number of parents are choosing not to vaccinate their children because of possible side effects.

Thankfully here in Singapore we can say you are legally obliged to be vaccinated when attending school and the Singapore government is a strong supporter of herd immunity. This means that if 95% of people are vaccinated then the small numbers left who cannot, for some reason, take the vaccine will be protected by the immunity of the rest of the group and hopefully unable to get the disease as it cannot be transmitted.

Possible Side Effects VERSUS MASSIVE ADVANTAGES