So many people talk about being vaccinated to prevent common diseases such as Hepatitis A and B, and more recently Ebola. But this raises the question, what is a vaccine and why does it work?
Q) WHAT IS A VACCINE?
A) A VACCINE IS A DEAD FORM OF THE PATHOGEN
Diseases are caused by small microorganisms called pathogens, which invade the body and cause harm to it. Different diseases are caused by different pathogens. A vaccine is an injection or an oral drug that contains these pathogens, but in its dead or weakened form.
Q) WHY DOES IT WORK?
A) IT STIMULATES THE BODY TO RESPOND
Because the vaccine contains the dead or weakened pathogen, the person given the vaccination does not get ill. Conversely, the dead or weak pathogen stimulates the person’s body cells to reproduce quickly and make products called antibodies. These antibodies help trap and kill the pathogen.
The antibodies stay in the body for a long time and the cells that make them have “memory”. This means that the next time the person gets infected by the real, deadly, active pathogen, the body can be quickly stimulated to make the right antibodies. This type of vaccine therefore prevents sickness and infection in the first place.
But, there is a second type of vaccine. Unlike the one described above, this type can be given to someone after they have been infected to be used as a cure. Both types of vaccines however work in the same way by stimulating the body to respond quickly to the disease.
IN CONCLUSION
A vaccine is an injection or a drug that contains dead microorganisms, which cause diseases. People vaccinated are protected from these specific diseases, because the body is stimulated to make products that can quickly kill them. Some vaccines can contain two or more different pathogens and provide protection against several diseases after one injection.
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You rock, this is so interesting