Vaccination

• In the UK, we are vaccinated against a range of different diseases when we are young
• Vaccination

  Introducing small quantities of dead or inactive forms of a pathogen into the body
• Because the pathogen is dead or inactive, it cannot lead to the disease in the patient
• Vaccination

  White blood cells are stimulated to produce antibodies against the dead or inactive pathogen
• Vaccination

  White blood cells divide by mitosis to produce lots of copies of itself
• These copies of the white blood cell can stay in the blood for decades
• If the same pathogen now enters the body, even years later

  The white cells can produce the correct antibodies quickly and this prevents infection
• After vaccination

  The level of antibodies heavily increase
• When the real pathogen invades

  The antibodies number rises rapidly and to a very high level and that's due to the vaccination
• It is really important that a very large number of people are vaccinated against pathogens
• There are always some people who do not get vaccinated for example people who are new to a country or people who missed there vaccination appointment
• If enough people are vaccinated


  This also protects unvaccinated people
• Herd immunity


  When enough people are vaccinated to protect unvaccinated people