Chapter 6

• Vaccine


  A small part of dead or an active form of a disease that is injected into the body to stimulate the immune system to produce antibodies and antitoxins
• How vaccines work


  1. Immune system and white blood cells attack the injected inactive/dead pathogen

  2. Body creates antibodies and antitoxins to the pathogen

  3. Body is now able to fight the disease if infected
• Herd immunity


  When over 80% of a population is vaccinated, the disease cannot spread and cause a pandemic
• Low vaccination rates (e.g. 50%)


  Disease can still spread quickly, no herd immunity
• Antibiotics


  Kill bacteria, prescribed by doctors
• Antibiotics cannot be bought over-the-counter due to antibiotic resistance
• Antibiotic resistance


  Bacteria mutate and become resistant to antibiotics, rendering them ineffective
• Overuse of antibiotics in humans and animals contributes to antibiotic resistance
• Drug development process


  1. Cell testing

  2. Animal testing

  3. Patient testing

  4. Approval for public use
• Double-blind trial

  Half patients get placebo, half get real drug, to remove bias and placebo effect
• Monoclonal antibodies


  Antibodies designed in a lab, have potential uses in cancer treatment and disease detection
• How monoclonal antibodies are produced

  1. Mice injected with antigen to produce antibodies

  2. Antibody-producing lymphocytes combined with cancer cells (hybridoma)

  3. Hybridoma cells grown in mass culture for use in treatments