Vaccinations: Clinical

Vaccination is the process of generating a protective adaptive immune response against microbes by exposing the body to non-pathogenic forms of microbes or components of microbes.

There are four main types of vaccines: Live attenuated, inactivated, subunit, and toxoid vaccines.

Live attenuated vaccines contain pathogens that have been weakened in the laboratory and they’re used to protect against Measles, Mumps, Rubella, and Varicella - the MMR-V vaccine, Rotavirus, polio- the Oral Polio Vaccine or OPV, influenza- the nasal flu vaccine and Yellow fever.

Inactivated vaccines use a pathogen that has been killed in the laboratory and include vaccines against Hepatitis A, polio- the Inactivated Polio Vaccine or IPV, and Influenza- the inactivated influenza vaccine.

Subunit vaccines contain just a portion of the pathogens- like polysaccharides or proteins and this is done in vaccines against Haemophilus influenzae type B, Hepatitis B, human papillomavirus or HPV, Bordetella pertussis, Streptococcus pneumoniae, Neisseria meningitidis, and varicella zoster virus.

Finally, toxoid vaccines contain inactivated toxins produced by pathogens, and this is used in vaccines against Clostridium tetani which makes tetanus toxin and Corynebacterium diphtheriae which makes diphtheria toxin.