Immunization

“Protecting health by preventing diseases”

In simple words, immunization provides protection or ‘immunity’ to children before they become vulnerable to grave diseases. 

Immunization is the easiest and most effective way of protecting people against diseases. Throughout history, Immunization programmes have been pivotal in reducing the spread of many lethal diseases. Some of these diseases have even been completely eradicated.

The Smallpox vaccine, in 1980 became the first vaccination programme to completely wipe out a lethal disease. The Polio vaccination programme has been successful in nearly eradicating the polio virus. The most recent successful vaccination campaign has been the COVID-19 vaccination programme. 

Whether you are a concerned parent looking for your child’s safety or an adult keeping up with your routine vaccinations, you need to understand the benefits of immunization and how it is instrumental in maintaining public health.

What is immunization? Immunization is the process that offers protection against diseases by giving a person vaccinations. Vaccinations make that person ‘immune’ to that disease by stimulating the immune system to recognize and fight the pathogen (any disease causing organism e.g. bacteria or virus) without actually experiencing any illness.

What do vaccines contain? Vaccinations contain a weakened pathogen that is incapable of causing disease, however it stimulates an immune reaction from the body. In simple terms, your body is tricked!

How does the body fight the disease? In simple terms, the body in response to the pathogen produces special protein based substances called ‘immunoglobulins’ or antibodies, as they are better known. These incredible proteins stay in circulation for a long time and are responsible for long-lasting protection of the body. 

This kind of protection or immunity is called ‘Active immunity’ since the body produces antibodies itself and becomes capable of producing antibodies again whenever it encounters this pathogen. 

If the antibodies had been given through an external source, the body had not been able to reproduce them, and would only become immune for the time being. This is called ‘Passive immunity’.

Can vaccinated people still get the disease? In almost all cases, a vaccinated person gets complete immunity and does not contract the disease upon exposure. However, rarely, it is seen that some people (especially those with a medical condition) can contract diseases even after getting vaccinated. The symptoms however, are mild and easily treatable in comparison to those experienced by an unvaccinated person.

The importance of immunization? The goal of any immunization programme has been to protect the community. This collective protection is termed ‘Herd immunity’. 

In an ideal scenario, everybody gets a vaccine and no one is left vulnerable to the diseases. However, people with compromised immune systems, elderly or newborns are not able to get some vaccines. In order to protect them, Herd immunity is required. 

What is Herd Immunity? If the majority of the people cooperate and get vaccinated, there would be less or ideally no carriers for the diseases, and thus, the unvaccinated people would also be safe. This phenomenon is called Herd immunity. Simply put, if a certain amount of people in a community get vaccinated against a disease, the chances of an outbreak of that disease become really low. In order to obtain herd immunity, almost 70 percent and above population must be immunized against the diseases.

Are Vaccines actually safe though? In spite of the proven benefits of vaccinations, false and misleading information regarding vaccination persists. There have always been myths regarding adverse effects of vaccines and other concerns regarding their composition, however, vaccines undergo meticulous testing and clinical trials in order to check their reliability, safety and effectiveness. 

Vaccination is one of the most fundamental breakthroughs of medicine and its reliability and safety is backed by years of research, testing and trials.

What to Expect Before, During and after Vaccination? Even though vaccination is a simple and safe procedure, it is important to inform your healthcare provider information regarding any medical condition or allergies you suffer from before the vaccination.  Most people experience soreness at the site of injection accompanied by a mild fever but these symptoms settle quickly. Although rare, it is important to check for any side effects after the vaccination, especially if you are suffering from a medical condition. In case of any side effects, immediately inform your healthcare providers who are trained to handle these situations.

How is Vaccination administered? Although it completely depends upon the vaccine delivered, vaccines can be administered via an intramuscular, intradermal or subcutaneous injection, or they can be administered orally and even as an intranasal spray.