The vaccine is a preparation that is based on microorganisms (dead, weakened or alive) such as bacteria, fungi, parasites and, in a more limited way, viruses or rickettsiae; given to a person to prevent, mitigate, or treat infectious diseases.
The vaccine is administered to produce immunity in the recipient against a particular microorganism. People in general are constantly exposed to disease-producing germs (in the air, on objects, in food, and in sex).
The purpose of vaccines is to stimulate the natural defense mechanisms of organisms to produce antibodies against a particular germ. In case the vaccinated person is attacked by the germ, the body is prepared to deal with it. The risks are lower, since the amount of germs used in the vaccine and the exposure time are carefully controlled.
Thanks to immunization through vaccination, diseases such as smallpox, poliomyelitis, hepatitis, etc. have been eradicated. Generally, a vaccine provides protection for the rest of life.
Since some conditions require the exclusion of one or more vaccines, the person should consult the doctor as to which ones he or her children should receive (if it is them), in what order and at what ages.
Vaccines sometimes produce some undesirable side effects, such as soreness at the site of application, some fever, and occasional rashes, but they pass quickly. However, some people have poor healing causing a keloid, which grows larger over time.
The first vaccine was discovered by the English doctor Edward Jenner in 1798, he discovered that by using the cowpox virus in humans, they were immunized against human smallpox. That is why the term vaccine comes from the Latin vaccinus , which is pertaining to or related to cows, from vacca (cow).
Not all vaccines are the same, there are different types, such as attenuated or weakened live microorganisms; of inactivated whole microorganisms; of non-toxic components, or fractions, of bacteria or viruses: toxoids, polysaccharides, protein subunits, conjugates (proteins and polysaccharides), recombinant (nucleic acids or DNA); and combination vaccines.
