Vaccinations

Cowpox was a less harmful version of smallpox. So their bodies created antibodies for the cowpox which in turn could kill the smallpox cells.

There are no specific 18 month vaccines. A child of that age will pick up any vaccines that are typically given at 12 to 15 months that s/he hasn't yet received. In addition, the child should get influenza vaccine in season.

A number of people were involved in the production of this bacterial vaccine. In the 1920' Dr. Sauer and Dr. Madson. Both of these were whole cell vaccines. Dr. Sato in Japan developed an acellular vaccine and it has been widely used in Japan since 1980. The effectiveness of these two last 3-6 years so boosters are needed.

The can produce antigens useful in making vaccines without the harmful parts of the original disease organism.

In the US, all vaccines require informed consent per federal law.

Some would include....

* Swine flu (although there is one practically ready) * The common cold (although impossible)

Yes, you can get live and dead vaccines at the same time. The only limitation is getting dead vaccines within a short period of time after the day you got live vaccine.

Originally in 2009 the vaccine for the pandemic swine flu was a monovalent vaccine, which means it was made to only prevent that one type of flu. Then for the 2010-2011 flu season, a trivalent vaccine was made for the regular flu just like every year. Trivalent means it is made to cover/prevent three different kinds of influenza virus infections. For the most recent flu season in the Northern Hemisphere, the "regular" flu shot contained the vaccine for swine flu and two others. So, the monovalent H1N1 vaccine covered only one type of flu: the pandemic swine flu. But the trivalent seasonal flu vaccines cover three types of flu (one of which, for the 2010 - 2011 flu season, is Swine flu H1N1/09).

Some people debate the idea of using vaccines because they are not fully informed and they don't understand the science behind them. All vaccines can be looked at as a medicine or drug and they do have side effects just as medicines do. This can be scary to some. Some people hear things and that makes them leery of using vaccines and some people just don't like anyone telling them what to do and when to do it.
Many of these people haven't lived in times when some diseases were just awful. Polio is one I am familiar with. We were all scared that we night get it. We knew about the iron lungs that some kids had to live in them forever. We saw some kids come back from summer vacation with the disease and how they were now disabled. We were not allowed to go out on hot summer days but had to be quiet and rest. No swimming allowed. When the Salk Vaccine came out, we all were at the school to get the injection. When the Sabin came out and we got that one just to be sure. Most people I know who are my age, always get their vaccinations.

The ingredients and manufacturing process for the 2009 A-H1N1/09 vaccine are entirely different than those in 1976. Besides the virus strain being entirely different, the method to "grow" it is different, too. For example, the virus is now incubated using chicken eggs as the medium for growth (this is why those with allergies to eggs or chicken proteins should not take the vaccines). Different processes are used to purify and "kill" the live virus for use in the inactivated vaccines used in the injections in the US. The nasal vaccines are also made with weakened ("attenuated") viruses created by using a new process for making them unable to make recipients of that type of vaccine ill.

The 2009 vaccine for "Swine Flu" is made using the same new process and ingredients as the seasonal flu shots have been being made for more than 3 decades now. The process was changed after the 1970's. The seasonal flu vaccines have an extremely low incident rate, with a safety record that is very good. There is no scientific reason to expect any different outcome with the 2009 H1N1/09 vaccinations made the same new way.

The risk of the flu is much greater than risks of adverse effects from the vaccine.

See related questions below for additional information about the ingredients in the 2009 "Swine Flu" H1N1/09 vaccines.

What is also new for the 1009 H1N1 Swine Flu vaccine is that it contains squalene, which is an ingredient that was never approved of in the USA. But the FDA quickly put through an approval for it, so it could be included in the 2009 vaccine. This is vastly different than in 1976 and squalene has been implicated in causing the Gulf War Syndrome. Squalene also causes the human immune system to a hyper reaction where the body attacks itself and sets a person up for auto-immune diseases later. The H1N1 Vaccine was never tested in 2009 for longer than 21 days and it does hold serious side effects such as causing miscarriages in pregnant mothers that were never reported by the CDC.

There is much to worry about -in 2010 as there is virtually no epidemic of swine flu yet the US government has allowed the H1N1 3 viruses to be included in every normal flu shot this year. It is too loaded with dangers to be administered to every person and have never to this day been tested for causing cancer. Buyer beware.

A person with a history of chickenpox or history of chickenpox vaccine will typically have a positive antibody test for chickenpox.

Yes, the vaccination doesn't provide 100% protection.

Vaccines take advantage of the body's immune system's way of fighting pathogens. When your body is exposed to some pathogen, which has various antigens on its surface, the immune system would start making antibody against those antigens. Normally, it would take sometime for your body to response with first exposure. Subsequence exposures would result in much more rapid response.

Vaccines work by isolating these antigens and give it to you exposing the immune system. You should not get the disease, since only the antigens are given instead of the full pathogen. Sometimes, it may be difficult to completely separate the antigens, so they weaken to pathogens to the point that they would not cause the infection in healthy individuals. These are call live attenuated vaccines. Exam of these are MMR, Varicella Vaccines, Flu mist.

The vaccine makes the body create memory cells.

No. The virus is grown in eggs, weakened or "killed", and then added to a solution with preservatives to make the vaccine. There is no blood.

Louis Pasteur invented the rabies vaccination, but you probably mean Jonah Saulk, the inventor of the polio vaccine.

tetanus

five

Chickenpox vaccine isn't needed if you've had chickenpox in the past. Shingles vaccine is recommended for patient 60 and over to prevent shingles.

Actually you can take them at the same time. You can not mix the vaccines in the same shot, but you can take them in separate shots at the same time. You can also take one by nasal spray and the other by injection at the same time. The only combination that doesn't work is to take both the seasonal vaccine and the H1N1/09 vaccine by nasal spray at the same time. The nasal spray vaccines need to be separated by several weeks between vaccinations of the two types of nasal flu vaccines.

Pertussis, aka Whooping Cough.

A vaccine contains a small amount of that certain virus (or sometimes bacteria) that you are getting vaccinated for that has been inactivated or weakened so it can not make you sick. It gives your immune system a way to create a defense against that disease.

See the related question below for more details about how vaccines work.

To allow your immune system to recognize the modified virus to prevent yourself from getting the virus yourself

They can be in certain circumstances, as long as they are given at different sites.

IVIg only gives a very temporary immunity while vaccines give lasting immunity. The reason they are not usually given together is that the IVIg would attach itself to the vaccine, thus making the vaccine worthless.