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VaccineA vaccine is an antigenic preparation used to establish immunity to a disease. The term derives from Edward Jenner's use of cowpox ("vacca" means cow in Latin), which, when administered to humans, provided them protection against smallpox, the work which Louis Pasteur and others carried on. Vaccines are based on the concept of variolation originating in China, in which a person is deliberately infected with a weak form of smallpox. Jenner realized that milkmaids who had contact with cowpox did not get smallpox. The process of distributing and administrating vaccines is referred to as vaccination. Since vaccination was much safer, smallpox inoculation fell into disuse and was eventually banned in England in 1841. Vaccines can be prophylactic (e.g. to prevent or ameliorate the effects of a future infection by any natural or "wild" pathogen), or therapeutic (e.g. vaccines against cancer are also being investigated; see cancer vaccine). Additional recommended knowledge
Types of vaccinesVaccines may be dead or inactivated organisms or purified products derived from them. There are four types of traditional vaccines[1]:
A number of innovative vaccines are also in development and in use:
Note that while most vaccines are created using inactivated or attenuated compounds from micro-organisms, synthetic vaccines are composed mainly or wholly of synthetic peptides, carbohydrates or antigens. Developing immunityThe immune system recognizes vaccine agents as foreign, destroys them, and 'remembers' them. When the virulent version of an agent comes along the body recognises the protein coat on the virus, and thus prepared to respond, by (1) neutralizing the target agent before it can enter cells, and (2) by recognizing and destroying infected cells before that agent can multiply to vast numbers. Vaccines have contributed to the eradication of smallpox, one of the most contagious and deadly diseases known to man. Other diseases such as rubella, polio, measles, mumps, chickenpox, and typhoid are nowhere near as common as they were just a hundred years ago. As long as the vast majority of people are vaccinated, it is much more difficult for an outbreak of disease to occur, let alone spread. This effect is called herd immunity. Polio, which is transmitted only between humans, is targeted by an extensive eradication campaign that has seen endemic polio restricted to only parts of four countries.[2] The difficulty of reaching all children as well as cultural misunderstandings, however, have caused the eradication date to be missed several times. Vaccination schedule
In order to provide best protection, children are recommended to receive vaccinations as soon as their immune systems are sufficiently developed to respond to particular vaccines, with additional 'booster' shots often required to achieve 'full immunity'. This has led to the development of complex vaccination schedules. In the United States, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, which recommends schedule additions for the Center for Disease Control, recommends routine vaccination of children against: hepatitis A, hepatitis B, polio, mumps, measles, rubella, diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus, HiB, chicken pox, rotavirus, influenza, meningococcal disease and pneumonia. The large number of vaccines and boosters recommended (up to 24 injections by age two) has led to problems with achieving full compliance. In order to combat declining compliance rates, various notification systems have been instituted and a number of combination injections are now marketed (e.g., Prevnar and ProQuad vaccines), which provide protection against multiple diseases. Besides recommendations for infant vaccinations and boosters, many specific vaccines are recommended at other ages or for repeated injections throughout life -- most commonly for measles, tetanus, influenza, and pneumonia. Pregnant women are often screened for continued resistance to rubella. The human papillomavirus vaccine is currently recommended in the U.S. and UK for ages 9–25. Vaccine recommendations for the elderly concentrate on pneumonia and influenza, which are more deadly to that group. In 2006, a vaccine was introduced against shingles, a disease caused by the chicken pox virus, which usually affects the elderly. Efficacy of vaccinesVaccines do not guarantee complete protection from a disease. Sometimes this is because the host's immune system simply doesn't respond adequately or at all. This may be due to a lowered immunity in general (diabetes, steroid use, HIV infection) or because the host's immune system does not have a B-cell capable of generating antibodies to that antigen. Even if the host develops antibodies, the human immune system is not perfect and in any case the immune system might still not be able to defeat the infection. Adjuvants are typically used to boost immune response. Adjuvants are sometimes called the dirty little secret of vaccines [3] in the scientific community, as not much is known about how adjuvants work. Most often aluminium adjuvants are used, but adjuvants like squalene are also used in some vaccines and more vaccines with squalene and phosphate adjuvants are being tested. The efficacy or performance of the vaccine is dependent on a number of factors:
When a vaccinated individual does develop the disease vaccinated against, the disease is likely to be milder than without vaccination. Vaccine controversiesOpposition to vaccination, from a wide array of vaccine critics, has existed since the earliest vaccination campaigns: [5]. A number of vaccines, including those given to very young children, have contained thiomersal, a preservative that metabolizes into ethylmercury. It has been used in some influenza, DTP (diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis) vaccine formulations. Since 1997, use of thimerosal has been gradually diminishing in western industrialized countries after recommendations by medical authorities, but trace amounts of thimerosal remain in many vaccines and in some vaccines, thimerosal has not yet been phased out despite recommendations. Some states in the USA have enacted laws banning the use of thimerosal in childhood vaccines. In the late 1990s, controversy over vaccines escalated in both the US and the United Kingdom when a study, published in the respected journal Lancet, by Dr. Andrew Wakefield suggested a possible link between bowel disorders, autism and the MMR vaccine, and urged further research.[1] His report garnered significant media attention, leading to a drop in the uptake of the MMR vaccine in the United Kingdom and some other countries. In response to the controversies, a number of studies with larger sample sizes were conducted, and failed to confirm the findings.[6] [7]. In 2004, 10 of the 13 authors of the original Wakefield study retracted the paper's "interpretation", or conclusion, section, which had claimed: "Interpretation. We identified associated gastrointestinal disease and developmental regression in a group of previously normal children, which was generally associated in time with possible environmental triggers." The retraction of this claim stated that the data were insufficient to establish a causal link between MMR vaccine and autism.[8] Wakefield was later found to have received £435,000 in fees from trial lawyers attempting to show the vaccine was dangerous [9] [10]. Also in 2004, the United States' Institute of Medicine reported that evidence "favors rejection" of any link between vaccines containing thimerosal, or MMR, and the development of autism [11]. In 2004 and 2005, England and Wales experienced an increase in the incidence of mumps infections among adolescents and young adults. The age group affected were too old to have received the routine MMR immunisations around the time the paper by Wakefield et al was published, and too young to have contracted natural mumps as a child, and thus to achieve a herd immunity effect. With the decline in mumps that followed the introduction of the MMR vaccine, these individuals had not been exposed to the disease, but still had no immunity, either natural or vaccine induced. Therefore, as immunization rates declined following the controversy and the disease re-emerged, they were susceptible to infection. [12] [13]. This and similar examples indicate the importance of:
There is opposition to any type of vaccination from some sectors of the community, particularly those who favor 'alternative' health care. Some skeptics claim that mass immunization is a eugenics program. Naturopaths and other alternative health care practitioners sometimes offer their own, alternative treatments to conventional vaccination. In Australia, a massive increase in vaccination rates was observed when the federal government made certain benefits (such as the universal 'Family Allowance' welfare payments for parents of children) dependent on vaccination. As well, children were not allowed into school unless they were either vaccinated or their parents completed a statutory declaration refusing to immunize them, after discussion with a doctor, and other bureaucracy. (Similar school-entry vaccination regulations have been in place in some parts of Canada for several years.) It became easier and cheaper to vaccinate one's children than not to. When faced with the annoyance, many more casual objectors simply gave in. Another vaccination controversy concerns smallpox. Since it has been eradicated, some suggest that the stores of smallpox virus should be destroyed. In an article on Newswise [14] both sides debate the issue: "The destruction of remaining smallpox virus stocks is an overdue step forward for public health and security that will dramatically reduce the possibility that this scourge will kill again, either by accident or design, argues Edward Hammond of The Sunshine Project, an organisation seeking international consensus against biological weapons." "But John Agwunobi of the US Department of Health and Human Services believes that clandestine stocks almost certainly exist and that destroying the virus would be “irreversible and short sighted.” [15] Economics of vaccine developmentOne challenge in vaccine development is economic: many of the diseases most demanding a vaccine, including HIV, malaria and tuberculosis, exist principally in poor countries. Although some contend pharmaceutical firms and biotech companies have little incentive to develop vaccines for these diseases, because there is little revenue potential, the number of vaccines actually administered has risen dramatically in recent decades. This increase, particularly in the number of different vaccines administered to children before entry into schools may be due to government mandates, rather than economic incentive. Most vaccine development to date has relied on 'push' funding by government and non-profit organizations, of government agencies, universities and non-profit organizations. Many researchers and policymakers are calling for a different approach, using 'pull' mechanisms to motivate industry. Mechanisms such as prizes, tax credits, or advance market commitments could ensure a financial return to firms that successfully developed a HIV vaccine. If the policy were well-designed, it might also ensure people have access to a vaccine if and when it is developed. Statistics from the government agencies of the U.S., the British Commonwealth and the U.K. show that between the 1800s and the time various vaccines were introduced, the incidences of the diseases for which vaccines were provided were reduced by 70%-90%. For some, this prompts the question as to whether the reduction in the morbidity and mortality due to these diseases is owed to improved sewage systems, food refrigeration, improved home and work environments, and the introduction of antibiotics, all of which occurred during the same period. Intellectual property and vaccinesIntellectual property can also be viewed as an obstacle to the development of new vaccines. Because of the weak protection offered through the patent of the final product, the protection of the innovation regarding vaccines is often made through the patent of processes used on the development of new vaccines as well as the protection of secrecy.[2] PreservativesIn order to extend shelf life and reduce production and storage costs, thimerosal, a preservative containing about 49% of a form of mercury called ethylmercury, was used routinely until recent years.[16] Thimerosal has been phased out in the U.S. in all but a few flu vaccines [17] (it has been phased out earlier in other countries, e.g. Denmark in 1992), but may be used in stages of manufacture. Parents wishing to avoid this preservative, most common in multi-dose containers of influenza vaccine, may specifically ask for thimerosal-free alternatives that contain only trace amounts.[18] A study published in the September 2007 New England Journal of Medicine reported no causal association between early exposure to mercury from thimerosal-containing vaccines and neurological problems by the age of 7 to 10 years old.[3] Vaccines for nonhumansVaccinations of animals is used both to prevent their contracting diseases and to prevent transmission of disease to humans. Both animals kept as pets and animals raised as stock are vaccinated. In some instances, wild populations may be vaccinated. This is sometimes accomplished with vaccine-laced food spread in a disease-prone area and has been used to attempt to control rabies in raccoons. Where rabies occurs, rabies vaccination of dogs may be required by law. Other canine vaccines include canine distemper, canine parvovirus, canine hepatitis virus, adenovirus-2, leptospirosis, bordatella, canine parainfluenza virus, and Lyme disease among others. See also
References
Vaccine proponent views
Vaccine safety critical views
Categories: Virology | Vaccination | Infectious diseases |
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This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Vaccine". A list of authors is available in Wikipedia. |