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| *Long duration of action | | *Long duration of action |
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− | ==What antigens do we use in the vaccine?== | + | ==What antigen(s) do we use in the vaccine?== |
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| + | '''Whole Organsim''' |
| + | |
| + | *Live attenuated organism |
| + | **Virulent organisms cannot be used as vaccines as they would cause disease |
| + | **Virulence is reduced by growing the organism in altered conditions so that it is less able to replicate when introduced to the host and therefore less likely to cause disease |
| + | |
| + | *Killed inactivated organism or toxin (toxoid) |
| + | **Virulent and toxic organisms cannot be used as vaccines as they would cause disease |
| + | **Organisms can be killed using radiation or chemicals so that they still posess the antigens to stimulate an immune response, but the organisms are unable to replicate inside the host |
| + | **Toxins are inactivated to produce a toxoid which will still have the antigens needed to produce an immune reponse but will not be harmful to the host |
| + | **Needs two doses |
| + | |
| + | '''Subunit Vaccine''' (part of the organism) |
| + | |
| + | *Purified protein |
| + | **From lysed organisms |
| + | |
| + | *Recombinant or synthetic protein |
| + | **The gene for the antigen required is inserted into a virus vector or cloned into bacteria |
| + | **Small antigens, such as peptides can be synthetically produced |
| + | |
| + | *DNA coding for proteins (antigens) |
| + | **Can be vaccinated directly into the host |
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| ==Links== | | ==Links== |