vaccination

• how does a vaccination work?

  • contains a dead/weakened form of the pathogen
  • stimulates white blood cells to produce complementary antibodies to the pathogen
  • memory cells are left in case of a secondary infection
• what is herd immunity?

  if a high proportion of the population are immune to a disease, the spread of the disease will be limited
• advantages of vaccinations

  • eradicated many deadly disease e.g. smallpox
  • epidemics can be prevented by vaccinations
  • herd immunity protects those who cannot have vaccinations
• disadvantages of vaccinations

  • may be side effects