What is the importance of vaccination in preventing infectious disease in adults?
This has led to an increase in person-to-person interaction in crowded spaces such as buses, trains, airports, and malls. This environment expedites the spread of infections, such as pneumococcal disease. Let's assume an infected person sneezes or coughs in a crowded scenario, only 5 out of 20 people will be infected. Those who remain uninfected typically have healthier and stronger immune systems due to various factors like age, regular exercise, good diet, no smoking or drinking, and healthier lifestyle choices. However, the elderly, frail, people with underlying conditions like diabetes, or people with certain unhealthy habits such as smoking or alcoholism are more susceptible. The good news is that these people can also prevent infections and reduce the overall impact of diseases like pneumococcal infections by means of vaccination.
How do vaccines work to protect against these infections?
To understand how vaccines work, we must learn how our body's defense system works. It relies on lymphocytes. Lymphocytes are a type of white blood cell produced in the bone marrow. In fetuses and babies, they are produced in the liver. Lymphocytes are of two types: B-lymphocytes and T-lymphocytes.
B-lymphocytes originate from the bone marrow. These act as tiny soldiers that kill any bacteria immediately. T-lymphocytes originate from the bone marrow too but they mature in the thymus (located below the thyroid gland). These provide cell-mediated immunity. This means that they memorize the bacteria and provide cell-mediated immunity. The memory helps them recognize and attack the same bacteria if it reappears even after years. These cells can together create a robust defense system as the B-cells are responsible for rapid immunity response and T-cells are responsible for long-term immunity.
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Esta historia es de la edición January 19, 2025 de THE WEEK India.
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