live vaccine

(noun)

consists of an active microbe (virus or bacteria)

Related Terms

Examples of live vaccine in the following topics:

  • Vaccines and Immunity

    • Vaccinations prevent viruses from spreading by building immunity to the virus.
    • Vaccines may be prepared using live viruses, killed viruses, or molecular subunits of the virus.
    • Live viral vaccines are designed in the laboratory to cause few symptoms in recipients while giving them protective immunity against future infections.
    • The danger of using live vaccines, which are usually more effective than killed vaccines, is low, but significant since the possibility that these viruses will revert to their disease-causing form by back mutations is still present.
    • Live vaccines are usually made by attenuating (weakening) the "wild-type" (disease-causing) virus by growing it in the laboratory in tissues or at temperatures different from what the virus is accustomed to in the host.

  • Production of Vaccines, Antibiotics, and Hormones

    • Biotechnological advances in gene manipulation techniques have further resulted in the production of vaccines, antibiotics, and hormones.
    • Traditional vaccination strategies use weakened or inactive forms of microorganisms to mount the initial immune response.
    • Discuss the methods by which biotechnology is used to produce vaccines, antibiotics, and hormones.

  • Immunological Memory

    • Vaccination is based on the knowledge that exposure to noninfectious antigens, derived from known pathogens, generates a mild primary immune response .
    • The immune response to vaccination may not be perceived by the host as illness, but still confers immune memory.
    • When exposed to the corresponding pathogen to which an individual was vaccinated, the reaction is similar to a secondary exposure.
    • Because each reinfection generates more memory cells and increased resistance to the pathogen, some vaccine courses involve one or more booster vaccinations to mimic repeat exposures.
    • Vaccines, often delivered by injection into the arm, result in a secondary immune response if the vaccinated individual is later exposed to that pathogen.

  • Vaccines and Anti-Viral Drugs for Treatment

    • Vaccines and anti-viral drugs can be used to inhibit the virus and reduce symptoms in individuals suffering from viral infections.
    • In some cases, vaccines can be used to treat an active viral infection.
    • The concept behind this is that by giving the vaccine, immunity is boosted without adding more disease-causing virus.
    • This is enough time to vaccinate an individual who suspects that they have been bitten by a rabid animaL; their boosted immune response is sufficient to prevent the virus from entering nervous tissue.
    • Using newly-developed vaccines that boost the immune response in this way, there is hope that affected individuals will be better able to control the virus, potentially saving a greater percentage of infected persons from a rapid and very painful death.

  • Overcoming Density-Dependent Regulation

    • Public health, sanitation, and the use of antibiotics and vaccines have lessened the impact of infectious disease on human populations.
    • Through vaccination programs, better nutrition, and vector control (carriers of disease), international agencies have significantly reduced the global infectious disease burden.
    • This advance is attributed entirely to a comprehensive vaccination program.
    • Measles cases reported in the United States, represented as thousands of cases per year, declined sharply after the measles vaccine was introduced, in 1964.

  • Biotechnology in Medicine

    • Better vaccines.
    • Safer vaccines can be designed and produced by organisms transformed by means of genetic engineering.
    • These vaccines will elicit the immune response without the attendant risks of infection.

  • Neurodevelopmental Disorders: Autism and ADHD

    • There has been some unsubstantiated controversy linking vaccinations and autism.
    • In the 1990s, a research paper linked autism to a common vaccine given to children.
    • This paper was retracted when it was discovered that the author falsified data; follow-up studies showed no connection between vaccines and autism.

  • Biotechnology

    • The primary applications of this technology are in medicine (production of vaccines and antibiotics) and agriculture (genetic modification of crops, such as to increase yields).

  • Physical and Chemical Barriers

    • It is not induced by infection or vaccination, but is constantly available to reduce the workload for the adaptive immune response.

  • Modern Applications of DNA

    • In the medical field, DNA is used in diagnostics, new vaccine development, and cancer therapy.