Summary Research Q7 – Vaccination
Concept of vaccination
Most effective medical intervention ever introduced. Vaccines:
- Promote health
- Have an expansive reach
- Have rapid impact upon introduction
- Save lives and costs
Vaccine: Biological preparation that improves immunity to a particular disease. Contains an
agent that resembles a disease-causing microorganism, and is often made from
weakened or killed forms of the microbe, its toxins or other purified component. The
agent stimulates the body’s immune system to recognize the agent as foreign,
destroy it, and ‘remember’ it, so that the immune system can more easily recognize
and destroy any of these microorganisms that it later encounters.
Immunization triggers an immune system response by which the vaccine develops long-term
protection (immunity) that would normally follow recovery from (sometimes several) naturally
occurring infections.
- Vaccination does not endure the illness
- Low risk of adverse reaction greatly outweighs the risk of complications by natural infection
Eradication: The complete and permanent worldwide reduction to zero new cases of the disease
through deliberate efforts. (global) > polio is on the verge of eradication
Elimination: The reduction to zero (or a very low defined target rate) of new cases in a defined
geographical area.
Vaccine safety:
NIPs: National immunization programs > considered safe and effective, but:
, Vaccines are not risk free and adverse events will occasionally occur following vaccination.
Public trust > key to success of vaccination programs
Expectation to safety standard is higher with vaccines compared to medicines for sick people.
Adverse vaccine reaction: A vaccine-related event caused or precipitated by a vaccine when
given correctly. Subset of AEFI.
Adverse event following immunization: AEFI. Any adverse event observed following immunization.
Some may be due to the vaccine, some due to error in the
administration and some are the result of unrelated coincidence.
Frequency and severity of adverse vaccine reactions
Background rates
Clinical trials and vaccine safety
Concept of vaccination
Most effective medical intervention ever introduced. Vaccines:
- Promote health
- Have an expansive reach
- Have rapid impact upon introduction
- Save lives and costs
Vaccine: Biological preparation that improves immunity to a particular disease. Contains an
agent that resembles a disease-causing microorganism, and is often made from
weakened or killed forms of the microbe, its toxins or other purified component. The
agent stimulates the body’s immune system to recognize the agent as foreign,
destroy it, and ‘remember’ it, so that the immune system can more easily recognize
and destroy any of these microorganisms that it later encounters.
Immunization triggers an immune system response by which the vaccine develops long-term
protection (immunity) that would normally follow recovery from (sometimes several) naturally
occurring infections.
- Vaccination does not endure the illness
- Low risk of adverse reaction greatly outweighs the risk of complications by natural infection
Eradication: The complete and permanent worldwide reduction to zero new cases of the disease
through deliberate efforts. (global) > polio is on the verge of eradication
Elimination: The reduction to zero (or a very low defined target rate) of new cases in a defined
geographical area.
Vaccine safety:
NIPs: National immunization programs > considered safe and effective, but:
, Vaccines are not risk free and adverse events will occasionally occur following vaccination.
Public trust > key to success of vaccination programs
Expectation to safety standard is higher with vaccines compared to medicines for sick people.
Adverse vaccine reaction: A vaccine-related event caused or precipitated by a vaccine when
given correctly. Subset of AEFI.
Adverse event following immunization: AEFI. Any adverse event observed following immunization.
Some may be due to the vaccine, some due to error in the
administration and some are the result of unrelated coincidence.
Frequency and severity of adverse vaccine reactions
Background rates
Clinical trials and vaccine safety
