What is a vaccine? What is vaccination?

Modern medicine in the twentieth century was able to defeat a lot of deadly diseases, a significant role in this played a precautionary techniques, such as vaccinations. What is a vaccine and when should it be used? Let's talk on this burning topic, because many people consider the introduction of vaccines into the human body as an absolutely ineffective method of preventing diseases.

Definition of the term "vaccine"

So, what is a vaccine? In essence, such drugs are biologically active, their main task is to protect the body from viral and other pathologies. The principle of vaccination is quite simple, it creates immunity from the disease even before the time of infection. Later, at the time of a real danger to health, the human body already has the ability to resist the pathogens and even defeat them. Vaccination should meet the following requirements:

• Do not have a negative effect on health.
• Provide long-lasting, permanent immunity.
• Stimulate the production of antibodies.

The main existing varieties of vaccines

Answering the question about what a vaccine is, it is impossible not to mention its main varieties. Such information has a special medical nature and is rarely used in everyday life, but in some cases it can be useful to many:

• Combined . The most famous representative of this category is DTP, an injection from several dangerous ailments - pertussis, tetanus and diphtheria. Such drugs provide comprehensive protection.
• Alive . In domestic medicine under this section poliomyelitis, tuberculosis, plague and many others fall. Such preparations include living, but weakened strains of viruses and microorganisms, which in real life can provoke the diseases listed above. When introduced into the human body, they provoke an extremely weak degree of disease and the formation of long-term immunity.
• Inactivated . Unlike live, they are created on the basis of killed strains. An example of such a vaccine is a remedy for rabies. Such drugs are less effective, but with repeated planned administration also form the necessary protection.
• Chemical . This category includes cholera, typhoid fever. They are a mixture of unique antigens, proteins, lipids and other components. Introduce a course in a fairly large amount.

General information on vaccination

Now that you know what a vaccine is and what it is, it's time to talk about specific vaccinations that are recommended by the domestic health care system from the first days of life to any person. It is worth noting that there is a vaccination schedule in every country. It depends on the situation in it, the specifics, WHO norms and even the financial question.

The introduction of vaccines in our country is envisaged from the first days of the baby's life. Injections are performed first in the maternity hospital, then in the nursery and adult polyclinic, respectively. Mandatory vaccines are a free service for the population, however, depending on one's own beliefs, a person can refuse them (for themselves and their minor child).

What is the first vaccine?

The national vaccination calendar includes 10 obligatory measures, preparations for their carrying out are made on the territory of our country. If desired, patients can be injected on the basis of foreign products (usually at their own expense).

The first vaccination is given to the child immediately after birth, he is injected with a drug from viral hepatitis B. In the future, the injection will be repeated for the first and sixth months of life. Such a drug is highly desirable for every person and is mandatory for members of the risk group. Do not neglect vaccination, believing that the hepatitis of this group is the lot of marginalized people, it can be infected in a domestic setting (for example, in a hairdresser's).

What diseases are vaccinated in our country?

Let's talk about what other ailments the injections offered by the state can help. Mandatory vaccinations are represented by vaccines against the following diseases:

• Tuberculosis (BCG, does not provide protection against infection, but it facilitates the course of the disease).
• Tetanus (can be introduced both separately and as part of complex vaccines DTP, ADS).
• Diphtheria.
• Whooping cough.
• Polio.
• Measles.
• Rubella.
• Parotitis (mumps).

Vaccination in almost full volume should be completed by 20 months of the child's life. Repeated injections are subsequently carried out after a considerable time interval closer to 6, and then to 14 years. Some children are vaccinated on an individual schedule.

What other diseases are there inoculations?

However, there are not only mandatory vaccinations, but also injections recommended for use. So, babies with weak health are recommended additional injections from pneumococcus. Typically, such measures are appropriate if at an early age a child often suffers from throat, bronchitis, various colds. Such medicinal vaccines are considered recommended and mandatory in European countries, in Russia they are appointed for the most part precisely according to the indications. In addition to the above list, the following vaccinations are most often carried out in our country:

• From a hemophilic rod.
• From the flu.
• From chickenpox (chicken pox).

How to determine the need for an additional injection?

The recommended injections are determined primarily by the epidemiological situation in the region. To such types of medications can be attributed drugs from rabies, typhoid or tick-borne encephalitis. Visit the clinic for additional vaccination is necessary and if you temporarily plan to go to a dangerous place in terms of these diseases. When traveling abroad information about mandatory vaccinations for a country should be specified not only from the therapist, but also in the travel agency.