Smallpox Vaccination Essay

Words: 597
Pages: 3

Vaccination is a method of artificial immunity whereby an individual gets resistance to infectious diseases (Kurstak, 2013). To achieve this, one needs administration of a vaccine, which is a biological component containing substances resembling the pathogens of a particular illness, but in a weakened or dead state. Immunization is a worthy health investment because of its high success rate, and its approaches make it accessible to the vulnerable communities. It has specific groups, enabling its efficient delivery and does not interfere with individual's lifestyle. For instance, other disease prevention methods may require one to avoid eating and drinking certain substances or engaging in some activities. Smallpox is one of the fatal viral maladies that affect human beings, but has had a successful worldwide eradication. The smallpox vaccine, vaccinia, was the first practical vaccine. The two critical approaches in the elimination plan were mass and ring vaccination (Henderson, 2017). The WHO campaigns for immunization in all countries against smallpox was set to accomplish about eighty percent of the population which was a prophylactic to the uninfected. The organization went ahead to identify the infected people and those in contact with them to undergo a revaccination in …show more content…
First, is the attenuated or live vaccines such as vaccinia(smallpox), varicella(chickenpox) and rotavirus. Second, we have the inactivated or killed vaccines, which include inactivated poliovirus(IPV), rabies and hepatitis A. Third, the toxoid vaccines mainly diphtheria, tetanus which is part of the DPT combined immunization. Fourth, the subunit vaccines such as Haemophilus influenza type b. Fifth, the conjugate vaccines include pneumococcal, human papillomavirus(HPV), and meningococcal. As stated by Bloom (2015), the design of a vaccine depends on how the agent causing the disease infects the cell and the response of the immune system to