The Difference Between Medicines and Vaccines

By Kate Lee '23

In contemporary society, various diseases spread in ways unnoticeable to human eyes. According to Lexico, a disease is a disorder of structure or function in a human, animal, or plant, especially one that produces specific signs or symptoms or that affects a specific location.

Since diseases such as the famous COVID-19, Ebola, and Influenza, may create destructive effects, many experts work to reduce the harm. An important way of harm reduction in the development and usage of medicines and vaccines. Therefore, in order to be prepared for the outrage of a pandemic, it is important for the public to understand the difference between medicines and vaccines.

First of all, vaccines stimulate one’s immune system to produce antibodies. Vaccines contain the same germs that cause illnesses, but the pathogens are killed or weakened (some vaccines comprise only a portion of the pathogens) so that they won’t cause fatal repercussions. Following the vaccination, the body obtains immunity to that illness without being infected by the disease first and developing severe symptoms. Vaccines are usually administered through needle injections, but they can also be administered by mouth or sprayed into the nose. To sum up, vaccines are powerful since they prevent sickness beforehand.

On the other hand, most medicines are used to alleviate symptoms after the disease onset. Medicines act in a variety of ways including curing, halting, easing symptoms, or helping the diagnosis of diseases. Some drugs can kill or prevent the spread of invading germs, while others can dispatch cells as they divide or inhibit cellular multiplication. Moreover, some drugs can replace missing substances, correct low levels of natural body chemicals, or affect parts of the nervous system to control a body process. Therefore, medicines have a wider range of applications and are mostly used to cure the disease that is already inside one’s body.

In conclusion, medicines and vaccines have clear differences in usage in different situations.

Sources:

https://www.lexico.com/en/definition/disease

https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vpd/vpd-vac-basics.html

https://isoponline.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Differences-on-drugs-and-vaccines.pdf