Related topics: swine flu , swine flu vaccine , flu , centers for disease control and prevention , immune response



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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Researchers Build Artificial Immune System to Solve Computational Problems

Researchers Build Artificial Immune System to Solve Computational Problems

Technology / Computer Sciences

created Dec 03, 2009 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (14) | comments 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- By mimicking the way that a living body acquires immunity to disease through vaccination, researchers have designed an artificial immune system to solve optimization problems more effectively ...


H1N1 Virus Can Be Killed by Acidic Ozone Water

H1N1 Virus Can Be Killed by Acidic Ozone Water

Chemistry / Biochemistry

created Nov 09, 2009 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (44) | comments 16

(PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists have found that acidic ozone water can deactivate H1N1 viruses very effectively, offering a promising disinfectant for the millions of people trying to avoid the disease. Acidic ...


Implant-based cancer vaccine is first to eliminate tumors in mice

Implant-based cancer vaccine is first to eliminate tumors in mice

Medicine & Health / Cancer

created Nov 25, 2009 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (31) | comments 7

(PhysOrg.com) -- A cancer vaccine carried into the body on a carefully engineered, fingernail-sized implant is the first to successfully eliminate tumors in mammals, scientists report this week in the journal ...


smoking, cigarette

Vaccine being developed to help smokers quit

Medicine & Health / Medications

created Nov 20, 2009 | popularity 4.1 / 5 (16) | comments 10

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


A world first: Vaccine helps prevent HIV infection (AP)

A world first: Vaccine helps prevent HIV infection

Medicine & Health / HIV & AIDS

created Sep 24, 2009 | popularity 4.3 / 5 (10) | comments 7

(PhysOrg.com) -- In an encouraging development, an investigational vaccine regimen has been shown to be well-tolerated and to have a modest effect in preventing HIV infection in a clinical trial involving ...


Biological catch-22 prevents induction of antibodies that block HIV

Medicine & Health / HIV & AIDS

created Dec 15, 2009 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (2) | comments 2

Scientists seeking to understand how to make an AIDS vaccine have found the cause of a major roadblock. It turns out that the immune system can indeed produce cells with the potential to manufacture powerful HIV-blocking ...


Six bad reactions to swine flu vaccine in Canada: official (Update)

Medicine & Health / Medications

created Nov 24, 2009 | popularity 3.3 / 5 (7) | comments 4

Six severe allergic reactions to swine flu vaccinations have been observed in Canada, health authorities said Tuesday, adding that all of the individuals are feeling better.


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 ...


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 ...


New Synthetic Molecules Trigger Immune Response to HIV and Prostate Cancer

New Synthetic Molecules Trigger Immune Response to HIV and Prostate Cancer

Chemistry / Biochemistry

created Nov 05, 2009 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (9) | comments 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers at Yale University have developed synthetic molecules capable of enhancing the body’s immune response to HIV and HIV-infected cells, as well as to prostate cancer cells. Their ...


There's a speed limit to the pace of evolution, biologists say

Biology / Evolution

created Nov 02, 2009 | popularity 4.3 / 5 (3) | comments 0

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania have developed a theoretical model that informs the understanding of evolution and determines how quickly an organism will evolve using a catalogue of "evolutionary speed limits." ...


pig

Researchers sequence swine genome

Biology / Biotechnology

created Nov 02, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- A global collaborative has produced a first draft of the genome of a domesticated pig, an achievement that will lead to insights in agriculture, medicine, conservation and evolution.


Scientists Propose New Explanation for Flu Virus Antigenic Drift

Scientists Propose New Explanation for Flu Virus Antigenic Drift

Medicine & Health / Research

created Oct 29, 2009 | popularity 4.3 / 5 (3) | comments 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- Influenza viruses evade infection-fighting antibodies by constantly changing the shape of their major surface protein. This shape-shifting, called antigenic drift, is why influenza vaccines ...


Scientists use world's fastest supercomputer to create the largest HIV evolutionary tree

Medicine & Health / HIV & AIDS

created Oct 27, 2009 | popularity 3 / 5 (1) | comments 0

Supporting Los Alamos National Laboratory's role in the international Center for HIV/AIDS Vaccine Immunology (CHAVI) consortium, researchers are using the Roadrunner supercomputer to analyze vast quantities of genetic sequences ...