Pros And Cons Of Spiky Pathogens

When antigens from the Vaccination are injected into the body, the third line of defence neutralises the antigens by reproducing antibodies and Lymphocytes. Due to the weakened organisms being injected chance of infection is significantly decreased, therefore making it possible for the body to destroy disease causing antigens without the host becoming infected. When the Lymphocytes destroy the antigens, the body records the process in memory cells as a way of easily and effectively neutralizing the same threat in the future (BBC, 2018). Often with vaccinations there are two different components that make up the vaccination process. The first is the initial vaccination where in-active pathogens are injected into the bodies in order to build up resistance to the antigen via memory cells. The next step is the booster, the pertussis vaccine for example is a vaccine that requires a booster every two years in order to maintain immunity to that particular illness. Once the booster is administered, memory cells start reproducing antibodies at a rapid rate which effectively eliminate any antigens. When arguing that Parents should vaccinate their children, it is essential that potential risks are acknowledged. Whilst vaccines are essential for the majority ,

In the article, "Vaccines Prevent Infectious Diseases" by Roman Espejo from Opposing Viewpoints in Context, some background is given about vaccines. First, the article talks about some history of some diseases. "Similarly, diseases like whooping cough (pertussis), measles, mumps, and German measles (rubella) may be unfamiliar to you. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, these illnesses struck hundreds of thousands of people in the United States each year, mostly children, and tens of thousands of people died" (Espejo). This is true and is eye opening to some. Next, how a vaccine works is described. "Traditional vaccines contain either parts of microbes or whole microbes that have been killed or weakened so that they don't cause disease. When

- Vaccinations work with the body’s natural immune system in order to prevent future diseases and illnesses.

When one is given a vaccine, the body’s immune system fights the disease or virus causing the body to become immune to the disease. Before vaccines, the only way to become immune to a disease was too simply contract the disease and hopefully live with no serious side effects or passing on the potentially deadly illness or dangers in a wide-spread epidemic. Vaccinations have been saving lives for over 200 years now. Below is a chart showing the successful impact vaccinations have had in the United States.

In order to understand the importance of a life-saving vaccine, it is essential to learn how they work. Amy Boulanger discusses the process in “What Do You Want to Know About Vaccinations?”. A vaccine injected into one’s body contains a weakened germ, which is responsible for causing that specific virus. By injecting that vaccine, the body is now able to recognize a new virus. It then activates and begins making antibodies. The body also “remembers” that virus. Through this process, immunity to the potentially deadly virus or disease will be quicker, therefore keeping vaccinated people protected from harm (Boulanger) .

Vaccinations are a substance given to patients that provides acquired immunity to a specific disease. They contain either a live weakened part of the virus or an inactive form created from a dead version of the viruses, causing the body to produce antibodies that will attack the virus if the body later comes into contact with the disease. Thus, a person can reduce the severity of the disease or eliminate the contraction of the disease completely. However, vaccinations have become a controversial topic and parts of the population refuse vaccinations for various reasons. The result is a reduction in vaccinations, causing epidemics of deadly and high communicable diseases once gone due to vaccinations. Although some proven dangers to immunization exist, the benefits to the vast majority of people outweigh the rare risks.

In order to further understand the debate, I will briefly explain how vaccines affect the immune system and aim to defend the body. The immune system has many different cells and one of the cells are memory

Vaccinations are a preparation given to patients that provides acquired immunity to a specific disease. They contain either a live, weakened part or an inactive form created from a dead version of the viruses, causing the body to produce antibodies that will attack the virus if the body later comes into contact with the disease. A person can reduce the severity or eliminate the contraction of the disease completely. However, vaccinations have become a controversial topic and parts of the population refuse to get vaccinated. The result is a reduction in vaccinations, causing epidemics of deadly and highly communicable diseases once virtually eliminated due to vaccinations. Although some possible negative side effects to immunization exist, the benefits to the vast majority of people outweigh the rare risks.

Today, vaccination is regarded to as one of the greatest medical achievements. A lot of diseases such as smallpox, that were killers thousands of years ago are have become almost nonexistent all thanks to vaccines. Over the last a few years, there has been arguments and debates about how effective vaccines are. Vaccines contain weak viruses and when entering the body, the immune system identifies the foreign substances (antigens). Once the antigens are identified the immune system develops proteins called antibodies which are made of lymphocytes of B-cells; the antibodies circle in the body and kill antigens. Memory cells then remember the antigens so that when exposed to the same antigens again, they'll kill them. Still, 160 years after the invention of the needle and syringe, they are still being used to deliver vaccines. On the podcast "A needle-free vaccine patch that's safer and way cheaper", Mark Kendall argues that it's time to advance. He states that even though vaccines are successful technology and have increased our life span, the needle and syringe have some shortcomings. These shortcoming are cross-contaminations with needle, it could hold back next generation's vaccines in terms of immune response, and it could be responsible for the problem of cold chain.

Every day, someone is saved because of a vaccination. A vaccine is a preventive drug that uses a small ratio of a dead or weakened virus and is designed to improve a person’s immunity and chances of survival. A vaccine is administered in one of three ways: (1) via syringe and needle injected into a muscle, (2) a nasal spray though the sinus canals, or (3) a liquid that is ingested via mouth. If a person is getting a polio vaccine, for example, then the vaccine would be made up of the the weakened or dead virus of polio and administered as mentioned above. The body then reacts to the virus creating an antibody to be produced and used by your immune system; the antibody’s job is to identify and neutralize the virus if the body is ever exposed to again. While no vaccine is 100% effective, most routine childhood vaccinations are approximately 85% to 95% effective (CDC). This means that if two people were introduced to a virus, and one person received a vaccination against the virus as a child and the other person did not, there would be a 5% chance the vaccinated person would contract the virus while the person that did not take the vaccine would have close to a 100% guarantee of becoming infected.

To understand why vaccinations are so important, it is important to understand what immunity is. According to the CDC; Immunity is the ability of the human body to tolerate the presence of material indigenous to the body (“self”) and to eliminate foreign (“nonself”) material. Which then provides protection from infectious disease/ Immunity is generally specific to a single organism or group of closely related organisms. There are two general mechanisms for acquiring immunity, which are active and passive. Active immunity is your immune system, by itself. This type of immunity can last many years to a lifetime. Active is stimulation of the immune system to produce antigen-specific antibodies. One way to acquire active immunity, according to the Pink Book, is to survive infection with the disease-causing form of the organism. In other words - recovering from an infectious disease, you will have a lifetime immunity to that disease. This is due to memory B cells. They have the capability to retain the antibodies that kill the disease. They remember what it is, so they detect

Immunisation is the process of protecting an individual against a disease through the infection of micro-organisms. The vaccine is injected into the individual’s body to trigger the immune system and to construct a resilience against the disease. This resilience causes the body to detect and demolish these illnesses in the future quickly and effectively.

“Before the middle of the last century, diseases like whooping cough, polio, measles, Haemophilus influenzae, and rubella struck hundreds of thousands of infants, children and adults in the U.S.” (“If We Stopped”). Millions of people die every year because of them. With the development of vaccines, they have become more frequently used, and as a result, the rates of theses diseases have drastically declined. A vaccine is a substance that creates immunity from a disease and can be administered in three different ways, through needles, by mouth, or by aerosol. A vaccination is the injection of a killed or weakened organism that makes the body immune to that organism and an immunization is the process where an animal or human being has become protected against a disease (“Basics”). Parents should vaccinate their children because it is safe and effective, it saves time and money, and it protects future generations.

A vaccine works by tricking the body’s immune system into creating antibodies that fight an innocuous form of the virus. The antibodies then remain in the body, and if the person encounters the real virus, they are protected against it. The history of vaccines actually goes as far back as 200BC India or China, when it was discovered that some diseases do not infect those who have already been infected by it. This discovery led people to infect themselves with inoculated matter, thus protecting them from the disease. The first vaccine dates back to 1796 when Edward Jenner developed the smallpox vaccine using a weakend version of the cowpox disease. The concept of vaccinations through inoculation is considered by many to be one of the great science revelations of the 20th century.

Whilst this is occurring, memory B cells figure out the shape of the antigen and remember it. This allows the B cells to produce antibodies much faster if the pathogen reinfects the person. The problem with the human immune system is that it takes approximately three weeks to reach peak antibody concentration and remove all of the pathogens in the body. Many pathogenic diseases (tetanus, polio, meningococcal etc) will kill the individual before the 3rd line of defence has the chance to destroy them. Vaccination involves injecting antigens (in the form of attenuated pathogens or pathogen parts) into the body. This causes the same immune response that would occur if the individual was infected with the actual disease; however, because the pathogens have been weakened (or killed) and had their reproductive ability inhibited, they cannot kill. This means that If the individual is infected by the pathogen in the future, he/she is extremely unlikely to get the disease (RNA based viruses such as Influenza are exempt from this due to their antigenic shift/drift ability). The use of repeated vaccination (eg. vaccination for a particular disease at two, four and six years of age) enhances the immune system even more.