Vaccine

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A vaccine is a biological preparation that improves immunity to a particular disease. A vaccine typically contains a small amount of an agent that resembles a microorganism. The agent stimulates the body's immune system to recognize the agent as foreign, destroy it, and "remember" it, so that the immune system can more easily recognize and destroy any of these microorganisms that it later encounters.

Vaccines can be prophylactic (e.g. to prevent or ameliorate the effects of a future infection by any natural or "wild" pathogen), or therapeutic (e.g. vaccines against cancer are also being investigated; see cancer vaccine).

The term vaccine derives from Edward Jenner's 1796 use of the term cow pox (Latin variolæ vaccinæ, adapted from the Latin vaccīn-us, from vacca cow), which, when administered to humans, provided them protection against smallpox.

For more information about Vaccine, read the full article at Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.


News tagged with vaccine

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smoking, cigarette

Vaccine being developed to help smokers quit

Medicine & Health / Medications

created 17 hours ago | popularity 4.6 / 5 (5) | comments 4

(PhysOrg.com) -- Glaxo-SmithKline has joined forces with Nabi Pharmaceuticals to produce a vaccine to help smokers give up their addiction permanently.


Cost of child vaccines fall, more kids saved

Medicine & Health / Diseases

created 18 hours ago | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

(AP) -- Babies squirmed and wailed as needles plunged into their chubby thighs at a public health clinic on the outskirts of Hanoi on Friday. Like little ones everywhere, the reaction to the sting was never pretty.


AP IMPACT: Gripes about swine flu vaccine abound (AP)

Gripes about swine flu vaccine abound

Medicine & Health / Medications

created 20 hours ago | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

(AP) -- When the nation's swine flu vaccination program began in early October, health officials predicted it was going to be "messy." They were right.


New findings suggest strategy to help generate HIV-neutralizing antibodies

Medicine & Health / HIV & AIDS

created Nov 19, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

New discoveries about anti-HIV antibodies may bring researchers a step closer to creating an effective HIV vaccine, according to a new paper co-authored by scientists at the Vaccine Research Center of the National Institute ...


Vaccines on horizon for AIDS, Alzheimer's, herpes (AP)

Vaccines on horizon for AIDS, Alzheimer's, herpes

Medicine & Health / Medications

created Nov 17, 2009 | popularity 3.8 / 5 (4) | comments 1

(AP) -- Malaria. Tuberculosis. Alzheimer's disease. AIDS. Pandemic flu. Genital herpes. Urinary tract infections. Grass allergies. Traveler's diarrhea. You name it, the pharmaceutical industry is working ...


Patients often turn first to 'Dr. Google'

Medicine & Health / Health

created Nov 17, 2009 | popularity 4 / 5 (1) | comments 0

The Internet's power to make something "go viral" has surpassed the phrase's original meaning. Sneeze once, you might pass a virus to the person next to you. Post something online, the entire world might get infected.


FDA reviews update to Pfizer vaccine for kids

Medicine & Health / Medications

created Nov 16, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 1

(AP) -- Federal health officials on Monday questioned whether to approve an updated version of Pfizer's best-selling anti-infection vaccine for children, despite company studies that failed to meet certain goals.


HIV vaccine failure probably caused by virus used, says new research

Medicine & Health / HIV & AIDS

created Nov 16, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

The recent failure of an HIV vaccine was probably caused by the immune system reacting to the virus 'shell' used to transmit the therapy around the body, according to research published today in the Proceedings of the Na ...


Vaccine against chlamydia not far away

Medicine & Health / Diseases

created Nov 16, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

When a woman becomes infected with Chlamydia, the first white blood cells that arrive at the scene to fight the infection are not the most effective. This is shown by a thesis from the Sahlgrenska Academy. This discovery ...


China investigates 2 deaths after flu vaccinations

Medicine & Health / Diseases

created Nov 14, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

(AP) -- Two people in China who received swine flu vaccinations died in the past week but at least one death appears unrelated to the vaccine and the other was being investigated.


CDC's swine flu toll: 4,000 dead, 22 million ill (AP)

CDC's swine flu toll: 4,000 dead, 22 million ill

Medicine & Health / Diseases

created Nov 13, 2009 | popularity 1 / 5 (2) | comments 2

(AP) -- Estimates of deaths caused by the swine flu have grown to nearly 4,000 since April, roughly quadrupling previous estimates. But that doesn't mean swine flu suddenly has worsened.


Drug industry, nonprofits join forces to fight world's neglected diseases

Chemistry / Other

created Nov 11, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Drug companies and nonprofit organizations are joining forces to develop new drugs and vaccines to target so-called "neglected" diseases that claim millions of lives in the developing world each year. Those hard-to-treat ...


GSK swine flu drug approved in US: company

Medicine & Health / Medications

created Nov 11, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

British drug maker GlaxoSmithKline has announced that US regulators have approved its swine flu vaccine for adults in the United States.


People with less education could be more susceptible to the flu

Medicine & Health / Research

created Nov 10, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

People who did not earn a high school diploma could be more likely to get H1N1 and the vaccine might be less effective in them compared to those who earned a diploma, new research shows.


Scientists explain binding action of 2 key HIV antibodies; could lead to new vaccine design

Medicine & Health / Research

created Nov 09, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

A very close and detailed study of how the most robust antibodies work to block the HIV virus as it seeks entry into healthy cells has revealed a new direction for researchers hoping to design an effective vaccine.