General Types of Vaccines

There are numerous vaccinations available in today's world that can offer immunity to various diseases. There are four main types of vaccines that are used:

• Live Attenuated Vaccines: These contain live microorganisms that have been chemically altered so that they will be weaker and not cause disease. After growing and re-growing the organism in a lab, the viruses become weakened (attenuated) and once in the body they will hassle the body and provoke immune responses. These types of vaccines work well and are preferred for use in healthy adults,and examples include:

1. Measles, Mumps, Rubella (MMR)
2. Oral Polio Vaccine (OPV)
3. Varicella (chickenpox) Vaccine

• Killed/Inactivated Vaccines: These contain viruses that have been killed using chemicals (formaldehyde) or heat and are not capable of causing illness, though they can still stimulate immune response. Examples include:

1. Inactivated Polio Vaccine (IPV)(injection)
2. Inactivated Influenza Vaccine

• Toxoid Vaccines: These vaccines are used to treat toxins, which are poisons created by germs (either microorganisms or a nonliving thing). The toxoids are actully inactivated toxins that were treated in order to obliterate their disease-causing abilities. Toxoids are still able to trigger a protective immune response. Examples include:

1. Diptheria Toxoid Vaccine
2. Tetanus Toxoid Vaccine

• Component Vaccines: The vaccines use only a part of the disease-casuing agent, rather than the whole particle. They are not capable of causing disease but are able to stimulate the immune response that will protect the body from the entire germ. Many new vaccines are made using components, including:

1. Haemophilus InfluenzaeType B (Hib) Vaccine
2. Hep A and B Vaccines
3. Pneumoccocal conjugate vaccine

The common theme with all these virus type is that once they are injected into the body, they are not able to cause disease (except for live-attenuated vaccines, which have a very rare chance of causing illness.) In order for vaccines to be the most effective and provide full immunity, booster shots are often required.The vaccines that are most commonly required for children include the following: hepatitis A, hepatitis B, polio,mumps, measles, rubella, diptheria,pertussis, tetanus, HiB, chicken pox,rotavirus, influenza, meningococcal disease, and pneumonia.

(For more information on virus types, visit Dr. Spock and Wikipedia.)