How Vaccines work?

How Vaccines Work?

Sources: WHO

How do vaccines work? (who.int)

What is Vaccination?

Vaccination is a simple, safe, and effective way of protecting people against harmful diseases, before they come into contact with them. It uses your body’s natural defenses to build resistance to specific infections and makes your immune system stronger.

Vaccines train your immune system to create antibodies, just as it does when it’s exposed to a disease. However, because vaccines contain only killed or weakened forms of germs like viruses or bacteria, they do not cause the disease or put you at risk of its complications.

How are vaccines given?

Most vaccines are given by an injection, but some are given orally (by mouth) or sprayed into the nose.

Vaccines protect against many different diseases, including:

Multiple Choice

Vaccines uses your body’s natural defenses to build resistance to specific infections and makes your immune system stronger.

• True

• False

Multiple Choice

Vaccines contain live or strong forms of germs like viruses or bacteria.

• True

• False

Multiple Select

What vaccines are given orally? Select all that apply.

• OPV

• IPV

• Measles

• Yellow fever

• Rotavirus

Why is vaccination important?

Vaccination is a safe and effective way to prevent disease and save lives – now more than ever. Today there are vaccines available to protect against at least 20 diseases, such as diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, influenza and measles. Together, these vaccines save the lives of up to 3 million people every year.

How does a vaccine work?

Vaccines reduce risks of getting a disease by working with your body’s natural defenses to build protection.

When you get a vaccine, your immune system responds. It:

• Recognizes the invading germ, such as the virus or bacteria.

• Produces antibodies. Antibodies are proteins produced naturally by the immune system to fight disease.

• Remembers the disease and how to fight it.

• If you are then exposed to the germ in the future, your immune system can quickly destroy it before you become unwell.

Adaptive immune respone

Our immune systems are designed to remember. Once exposed to one or more doses of a vaccine, we typically remain protected against a disease for years, decades or even a lifetime. This is what makes vaccines so effective. Rather than treating a disease after it occurs, vaccines prevent us in the first instance from getting sick.

Multiple Select

Once exposed to one or more doses of a vaccine, we typically remain protected against a disease for :

Select all that apply.

• a year

• 6 months

• a decade

• a lifetime

• 9 months

Multiple Choice

Today, how many vaccines are available to protect us against diseases?

• 10

• 15

• 20

• 25

Multiple Select

How does your body respond when you get a vaccine?

• Recognizes the invading germ, such as the virus or bacteria.

• Remembers the disease and how to fight it.

• Make fewer antibodies

• Produces antibodies.

• You will have a lower body temperature

Multiple Choice

How does a vaccine work?

• Vaccines reduce risks of getting a disease by working with your body’s natural defenses to build protection.

• Vaccines contained strong viruses that attack your body to make you sick.

Multiple Choice

Vaccines save the lives of up to 3 million people every year.

• True

• False

Multiple Choice

Prevention is better than cure.

• true

• False