Vaccines Flashcards, test questions and answers

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What is Vaccines?

Vaccines are essential components of modern medicine, providing much-needed protection against a variety of diseases. Vaccines work by introducing an agent that resembles a disease-causing microorganism into the body. This agent is usually either a weakened or killed version of the microorganism, or it may contain only certain pieces of the microorganism’s structure. In either case, this agent triggers an immune response in which the body produces antibodies to fight off any future infections by the same type of organism. Vaccines have been used for centuries to prevent various illnesses and have saved millions of lives worldwide.Vaccines are extremely safe and effective at preventing many infectious diseases that were once common in children and adults. For example, prior to widespread immunization with vaccines such as measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR), these illnesses caused hundreds of thousands hospitalizations and deaths each year in the United States alone. However, due to high vaccination rates in recent decades, cases of these illnesses have decreased by more than 99%. Vaccines also protect against a number of serious yet preventable conditions including diphtheria, hepatitis B, pertussis (whooping cough), pneumococcal disease (which can cause pneumonia), rotavirus (which causes severe diarrhea) and human papillomavirus (HPV).In addition to protecting individuals from getting sick with certain diseases, vaccines also help protect communities by increasing herd immunity when enough people are vaccinated against a certain illness that even those who haven’t been vaccinated are unlikely to get sick because there is very little chance for them to be exposed to someone carrying the infection. This effect is particularly important for protecting people who cannot receive vaccinations due medical conditions such as allergies or weakened immune systems from becoming infected with deadly diseases like measles or diphtheria. Overall, vaccines are an invaluable tool for keeping individuals healthy throughout their lives as well as protecting entire communities from dangerous infectious diseases. They provide lifelong protection at relatively low cost compared with other preventive measures such as antibiotics making them one of the most cost-effective health interventions available today.