What is immunisation and how does it work?

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What is immunisation and how does it work?

Immunisation is the process of rendering people immune to an infectious organism by inoculating them with a form of the organism that does not cause severe disease but does provoke formation of protective antibodies. Vaccines are the most effective protection against most diseases caused by viruses and related organisms, because few antibiotics work against them.

Immunisation uses the body’s natural defence mechanism-the immune response-to build resistance to specific infections. Immunisation is given as an injection or, in the case of polio vaccine, taken as drops by mouth. Immunisation helps children stay healthy by preventing serious infections.

Immunisation works by introducing a mild or dead form of the disease into the body. Some vaccines contain a very small dose of a live, but weakened form of a virus. Some vaccines contain a very small dose of killed bacteria or small parts of bacteria, and other vaccines contain a small dose of a modified toxin produced by bacteria. Once the disease enters the body, via the injection, the white blood cells the make antibodies to destroy the microbe causing the disease. If the person is infected with the same microbe again, the white blood cells can quickly produce the correct antibody and the person does not suffer from the disease. This is what is known as active immunity. The first vaccination using active immunity was against smallpox and was developed by Edward Jenner.

        Once a child has been vaccinated in general, the normal immune response takes several weeks to work. This means protection from an infection will not occur immediately after immunisation. Most immunisations need to be given several times to build long lasting protection. Generally vaccinations protect us all our lives; however, the protective effect of some immunisations is not always life-long and then a booster jab will be given which will top-up the original vaccine. Some vaccinations, for example the tetanus vaccine, can last up to 30 years.

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        Very young babies rarely catch the infectious diseases common in childhood because antibodies, obtained from the mother, protect them from these infectious diseases. Antibodies from the mother survive in the baby for several months. All that time, the baby is becoming more able to withstand infection. Around the age of 2 months it is recommended for the immunisation process to begin, this will enable the baby’s body to begin to develop antibodies to takeover from those of the mother, which will gradually disappear as the baby’s body begins to develop.  

The effect of immunisations is very strange on certain ...

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