What Are Vaccines?
Vaccines safely prepare your immune system to fight dangerous germs before you get sick.
- A vaccine contains harmless parts of a virus or bacteria, such as proteins, sugars, or weakened or inactivated forms of the germ.
- These pieces are called antigens, which help your immune system recognize the invader.
- When vaccinated, your immune system identifies these foreign pieces and starts building a defense.
- It produces antibodies that can attack the real germ if it ever enters your body.
How Vaccines Train Your Immune System
Vaccines help your immune system build long-term protection using memory cells.
- After vaccination, your white blood cells activate two teams:
- B cells make antibodies to block and neutralize germs.
- T cells destroy infected cells and help coordinate the immune response.
- Once trained, your immune system creates memory cells that stay in your body for months, years, or even a lifetime.
- If the real germ enters later, your memory cells respond quickly, stopping the infection before it becomes serious.
Fun Facts
Here are some interesting facts about vaccines:
- The first vaccine was created by Edward Jenner in 1796 to protect against smallpox.
- Herd immunity helps protect people who can’t get vaccinated, like newborns or people with certain health problems.
- Some vaccines, like the tetanus shot, need booster doses every 10 years to keep working.
- mRNA vaccines (like some COVID-19 vaccines) teach your cells to make a tiny part of the virus so your immune system can learn to fight it.
Review
Let’s quickly recap what we learned about vaccines:
- What do vaccines introduce to help train your immune system? Antigens
- What kind of cells make antibodies after vaccination? B-Cells
- What special cells remember how to fight the germ? Memory Cells
- Which disease did the first vaccine protect against? Smallpox
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