Immunization

Excerpt

Immunization has become a vital part of public health and disease prevention, and yet, it remains a controversial topic in our society today. Diseases that were once responsible for significant morbidity and mortality have now become all but eradicated, thanks to the introduction of vaccines. Immunization has contributed to increased life expectancy and improved quality of life.

The first vaccine is credited to Edward Jenner, who in 1796 inoculated a 13-year-old boy with the virus responsible for cowpox, and he demonstrated immunity to smallpox. The first smallpox vaccine was created in 1798 using that premise. Over the following centuries, and leading up to the present day, vaccine technology has improved, and vaccines to many illnesses have been developed. In 1979, global eradication of smallpox was achieved thanks to immunization.

The World Health Organization has made lifelong immunization a priority, including it as a core to the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals. In fact, in 2012, the World Health Assembly adopted the Global Vaccine Action Plan, which aims to prevent millions of deaths by 2020 by increasing access to and utilization of vaccines throughout all parts of the world. The first milestone this action plan hopes to achieve is the worldwide eradication of polio.

A vaccine is a pharmacologic compound that improves a person's immunity to a particular disease. When a disease-causing bacterium or virus invades the human body, the immune system recognizes the material as foreign, usually by detecting specific protein portions of the invading organism, known as antigens. Vaccines contain a form of the disease-causing agent, whether it be a weakened or killed form of the microbe itself, an inactivated version of its toxins, or a protein from the surface of the microbe. By introducing a form of the agent, the vaccine presents the antigen to the immune system, allowing it to recognize the antigen as foreign and develop antibodies and memory T-lymphocytes against those antigens. This allows a more rapid and robust immune response should the body be exposed to the organism in the future. In the absence of vaccination, the first exposure to the natural organism may prove fatal before the immune system can mount a sufficient immune response.

CDC's guidance for the safe delivery of vaccines during the COVID-19 pandemic includes physical distancing and appropriate use of personal protective equipment. According to ACIP(Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices), regular immunization is essential during the COVID-19 pandemic as they prevent disease outbreaks at individual and community levels.