BRAINCAKEArtificial Active Immunity - Vaccines
A vaccine gives artificial active immunity. It contains antigens from a pathogen, introduced deliberately so that the body makes a primary immune response and memory cells without the person suffering the disease.
Vaccines may contain:
• live attenuated (weakened) pathogens that cannot cause disease, for example the MMR vaccine
• inactivated (killed) pathogens, for example the injected flu vaccine
• toxoids: toxins made harmless, for example the tetanus and diphtheria vaccines
• subunits: isolated antigens, often made by genetically modified microorganisms, for example the hepatitis B vaccine
• mRNA coding for an antigen, which body cells use to make the antigen, as in some COVID-19 vaccines.
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Key terms in this lesson
- antigen-presenting cell
- A cell that engulfs a pathogen, digests it and displays fragments of its antigens on MHC proteins, activating T helper cells.
More in Response to Infection
- The Cell-Mediated Response
- Cytotoxic T Cells
- Primary and Secondary Immune Response
- Types of Immunity
- Artificial Passive Immunity
- Herd Immunity
- Eradicating Disease
- The Pros and Cons of Vaccination
All 20 lessons in Response to Infection · All Edexcel A-level Biology topics