WHAT IS IMMUNISATION?

Immunisation protects children (and adults) against harmful infections before they come into contact with them in the community.

Immunisation uses the body’s natural defence mechanism - the immune response - to build resistance to specific infections. Nine diseases can be prevented by routine childhood immunisation - diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough, poliomyelitis (polio), measles, mumps, rubella, Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) and hepatitis B. All of these diseases can cause serious complications and sometimes death.

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 and vaccination

Technically ‘vaccination’ is the term used forgiving a vaccine - that is, actually getting the injection or swallowing the drops. ‘Immunisation’is the term used for the process of both getting the vaccine and becoming immune to the disease as a result of the vaccine. Most people use the terms ‘vaccination’ and ‘immunisation’interchangeably but their meanings are not exactly the same because immunity follows vaccination in most, but not all, cases. For the purposes of this book, we have always used the term ‘immunisation’ because this is the expression most commonly used in the community.

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How does immunisation work?

All forms of immunisation work in the same way. When someone is injected with, or swallows, a vaccine, their body produces an immune response in the same way it would following exposure to a disease but without the person getting the disease. If the person comes in contact with the disease in the future, the body is able to make an immune response fast enough to prevent the person getting sick.

What is in vaccines?

Some vaccines contain a very small dose of a live, but weakened form of a virus. Some vaccines contain a very ...

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