Vaccinations

• Vaccine


  Exposes the body to weakened or inactivated pathogens, allowing the immune system to develop immunity without causing the full disease
• Vaccines


  • Contain weakened or inactivated pathogens that the body can respond to and develop immunity against
  • Do not cause the full disease
• Body exposed to pathogen


  Develops immunity to that pathogen and any diseases it causes
• Body develops immunity


  Cannot catch the disease anymore
• How vaccines work


  1. Expose body to weakened pathogens

  2. Body produces antibodies and develops immunity
• Things vaccines can work against

  • Bacteria
  • Viruses
• Pros of vaccines


  • Protect us from horrible diseases
  • Help control and prevent outbreaks of diseases that used to be common
• Herd immunity


  When enough people in a population are immune to a pathogen, the pathogen has no one to spread to and disappears
• Herd immunity


  Even unvaccinated people are unlikely to catch the disease
• Cons of vaccines


  • Vaccines don't always grant full immunity
  • Can sometimes cause bad reactions like swelling, fevers, or seizures (though these are rare)
• The pros of vaccination generally outweigh the cons