6.4 Vaccination programs and herd immunity + 6.5 Development of immunotherapy strategies

what are vaccination programs?

mandated programs that set a schedule in which vaccinations against specific disease should be administrated

• large percentage immunised = less spread of disease

what is herd immunity?

governments and societies can vaccinate most of their population against a certain infectious disease to ensure that even the people who are not vaccinated can still be protected

when is herd immunity put at risk?

herd immunity is put at risk when immunisation rates decrease

what is immunotherapy?

a type of treatment that alters the immune response in an individual to combat diseases

• monoclonal antibodies is most common which can be combined wiht other treatments

what is an autoimmune disease?

diseases in which the immune system fails to identify ‘self’ material and makes antibodies against the bodies own tissues

what are monoclonal antibodies (MAb)?

specifically designed antibodies used in the treatment of some diseases such as cancer and autoimmune disease

• making/growing antibodies in a lab that target cells have either infected with a virus or are cancerous

how are autoimmune diseases and monoclonal antibodies interlinked?

monoclonal antibodies can be used to block overactive immune cells that target health cells, usually by blocking a receptor on the immune cell

what does monoclonal mean?

comes from clones of one parent cell and they are antibodies specific for a known antigen

hat are the four modes of action for monoclonal antibodies (MAb)

• stop growth of new blood vessels

• signal immune cells to attack

• block growth factors

• deliver anticancer or radioisotopes to cancer cells