vaccination
Sign in to saveVaccination is the administration of a vaccine to help the immune system develop immunity from a disease. Vaccines contain a microorganism or virus in a weakened, live or killed state, or proteins or toxins from the organism. In stimulating the body's adaptive immunity, they help prevent sickness from an infectious disease. When a sufficiently large percentage of a population has been vaccinated, herd immunity results. Herd immunity protects those who may be immunocompromised and cannot get a vaccine because even a weakened version would harm them.
AI overview
Vaccination is a medical procedure where a vaccine—containing a weakened, killed, or inactivated form of a disease-causing microorganism or its proteins—is given to help your immune system develop protection against that disease. Vaccination matters because when enough people in a population are vaccinated, it creates "herd immunity," which protects vulnerable individuals who cannot safely receive vaccines themselves.
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Key facts
- Medical intervention.Name
- Vaccinations
- Medical intervention.Image
- Young girl about to receive a vaccine in her upper arm (48545990252).jpg
- Medical intervention.Caption
- Girl about to be vaccinated in her upper arm
- Medical intervention.ICD9
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via Wikipedia infobox
Article
28 sectionsContents
- Mechanism of function
- Vaccination versus inoculation
- Preventing disease versus preventing infection
- Safety
- Vaccine development and approval
- Side effects
- Notable vaccine investigations
- Ingredients
- Aluminium
- Mercury
- Monitoring
- Environmental effects
- Usage
- United States
- History
- Vaccination policy
- Fractional dose vaccination
- Litigation
- Opposition
- Vaccination and autism
- Routes of administration
- Economics of vaccination
- Costs and benefits
- Gallery
- See also
- References
- Further reading
- External links
Vaccination is the administration of a vaccine to help the immune system develop immunity from a disease. Vaccines contain a microorganism or virus in a weakened, live or killed state, or proteins or toxins from the organism. In stimulating the body's adaptive immunity, they help prevent sickness from an infectious disease. When a sufficiently large percentage of a population has been vaccinated, herd immunity results. Herd immunity protects those who may be immunocompromised and cannot get a vaccine because even a weakened version would harm them.
The effectiveness of vaccination has been widely studied and verified. Vaccination is the most effective method of preventing infectious diseases; widespread immunity due to vaccination is largely responsible for the worldwide eradication of smallpox and the elimination of diseases such as polio and tetanus from much of the world. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), vaccination prevents 3.5–5 million deaths per year. A WHO-funded study by The Lancet estimates that, during the 50-year period starting in 1974, vaccination prevented 154 million deaths, including 146 million among children under age 5. However, some diseases have seen rising cases due to relatively low vaccination rates attributable partly to vaccine hesitancy.