A vaccine is a biological preparation that provides active acquired immunity to a particular infectious disease. A vaccine typically contains an agent that resembles a disease-causing microorganism and is often made from weakened or killed forms of the microbe, its toxins, or one of its surface proteins. The agent stimulates the body's immune system to recognize the agent as a threat, destroy it, and to further recognize and destroy any of the microorganisms associated with that agent that it may encounter in the future. Vaccines can be prophylactic, or therapeutic.
The DPT vaccine or DTP vaccine is a class of combination vaccines against three infectious diseases in humans: diphtheria, pertussis, and tetanus. The vaccine components include diphtheria and tetanus toxoids and either killed whole cells of the bacterium that causes pertussis or pertussis antigens. The whole cells or antigens will be depicted as either "DTwP" or "DTaP", where the lower-case "w" indicates whole-cell inactivated pertussis and the lower-case "a" indicates pertussis antigens.
Haemophilus influenzae is a Gram-negative, coccobacillary, facultatively anaerobic capnophilic pathogenic bacterium of the family Pasteurellaceae. H. influenzae was first described in 1892 by Richard Pfeiffer during an influenza pandemic, who incorrectly described Haemophilus influenzae as the causative microbe, which retains "influenza" in its name.
Vaccine hesitancy refers to a delay in acceptance, or refusal of vaccines despite the availability of vaccine services. Vaccine hesitancy is complex and context specific, varying across time, place and vaccines. It is influenced by factors such as complacency, convenience and confidence. The term covers outright refusals to vaccinate, delaying vaccines, accepting vaccines but remaining uncertain about their use, or using certain vaccines but not others. Among the hesitant are groups known as "anti-vaxxers" or "anti vax", who are generally against vaccination.
The National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act (NCVIA) of 1986 was signed into law by United States President Ronald Reagan as part of a larger health bill on November 14, 1986. NCVIA's purpose was to eliminate the potential financial liability of vaccine manufacturers due to vaccine injury claims to ensure a stable market supply of vaccines, and to provide cost-effective arbitration for vaccine injury claims. Under the NCVIA, the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (NVICP) was created to provide a federal no-fault system for compensating vaccine-related injuries or death by establishing a claim procedure involving the United States Court of Federal Claims and special masters.
Hepatitis B vaccine is a vaccine that prevents hepatitis B. The first dose is recommended within 24 hours of birth with either two or three more doses given after that. This includes those with poor immune function such as from HIV/AIDS and those born premature. It is also recommended that health-care workers be vaccinated. In healthy people routine immunization results in more than 95% of people being protected.
The Haemophilus influenzae type B vaccine, often called Hib vaccine, is a vaccine used to prevent Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) infection. In countries that include it as a routine vaccine, rates of severe Hib infections have decreased more than 90%. It has therefore resulted in a decrease in the rate of meningitis, pneumonia, and epiglottitis.
Vaccination policy is the health policy a government adopts in relation to vaccination. Vaccination policies have been developed over the approximately two centuries since the invention of vaccination with the purpose of eradicating disease from, or creating a herd immunity for, the population the government aims to protect. Vaccination advisory committees within each country are usually responsible for providing information to governments that is used to make evidence-based decisions regarding vaccine and immunization policy.
Chandrakant Lahariya is an Indian medical doctor, epidemiologist, vaccinologist, public health, and policy expert and writer. His work centers around strengthening health systems, public policy interventions to address health inequities and to develop innovative models for health service delivery.
A vaccine-preventable disease is an infectious disease for which an effective preventive vaccine exists. If a person acquires a vaccine-preventable disease and dies from it, the death is considered a vaccine-preventable death.
Samuel L. Katz is an American pediatrician and virologist whose career has been devoted to infectious disease research, focusing principally on vaccine research and development. Katz is currently the Wilburt Cornell Davison Professor and Chairman Emeritus of Pediatrics at Duke University.
Tetanus vaccine, also known as tetanus toxoid (TT), is a toxoid vaccine used to prevent tetanus. During childhood, five doses are recommended, with a sixth given during adolescence.
Universal Immunisation Programme (UIP) is a vaccination programme launched by the Government of India in 1985. It became a part of Child Survival and Safe Motherhood Programme in 1992 and is currently one of the key areas under National Rural Health Mission since 2005. The programme now consists of vaccination for 12 diseases- tuberculosis, diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus, poliomyelitis, measles, hepatitis B, diarrhoea, Japanese encephalitis, rubella, pneumonia and Pneumococcal diseases. Hepatitis B and Pneumococcal diseases was added to the UIP in 2007 and 2017 respectively. The cost of all the vaccines are borne by the state and the government spent ₹3,587 crore (US$500 million) in 2017 to purchase the vaccines to provide them for free.
Walter A. Orenstein is the former director of the United States' National Immunization Program, a post he held from May 1993 to January 2004.
George Rainer Siber is a medical researcher and vaccine expert with 46 years of experience in developing numerous vaccines, therapeutic antibodies, and diagnostic agents for infectious diseases.
A pentavalent vaccine, also known as a 5-in-1 vaccine, is a combination vaccine with five individual vaccines conjugated into one.
DTaP-IPV/Hib vaccine is a 5-in-1 combination vaccine that protects against diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough, polio, and Haemophilus influenzae type B.
A hexavalent vaccine, or 6-in-1 vaccine, is a combination vaccine with six individual vaccines conjugated into one, intended to protect people from multiple diseases. The term usually refers to the children's vaccine that protects against diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, poliomyelitis, haemophilus B, and hepatitis B, which is used in more than 90 countries around the world including in Europe, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.
DTP-HepB vaccine is a combination vaccine whose generic name is diphtheria and tetanus toxoids and whole-cell pertussis and hepatitis B (recombinant) vaccine (adsorbed) or DTP-Hep B. It protects against the infectious diseases diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, and hepatitis B.
Vaccination in India includes the use of vaccines in Indian public health and the place of vaccines in Indian society, policy, and research.
