Vaccines

-

There is lots of confusion in the minds of people regarding what vaccines are and how they work. The body has its own immune system i.e a system whereby the body produces an effective fighting force in the form of antibodies to fight infections. This is known as natural immunity. Vaccines produce another immunity based on the same principle. There are two types of vaccines. Inactivated and live attenuated. In the inactivated vaccine, the organism antigen is treated in such a way that it is not harmful to the body. It is inactivated. The body however recognizes it as an antigen. When injected in the body it produces an antibody response by the body. By antibody response means infection fighting ability of the body. The virus in this case is dead in the vaccine. Another vaccine is live attenuated vaccine. The virus/bacteria is treated in such a way that it loses its virulence i.e loses the strong harmful effect. However, the virus is live but does not cause disease.eg Polio vaccine. 


According to Dr Mubina Agboatwalla - Child Specialist in Karachi in both cases, the body retains the memory of the virus. So whenever the actual virus attacks the body, the memory is retained by the body and it immediately develops an antibody response to fight the infection. AS the result the child does not develop the disease or even if the child does develop the disease it is very mild. This is the basic principle of all vaccines including tuberculosis, typhoid, glu, diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus, measles as well as corona. To protect against diseases, get your child vaccinated.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Q/A session with Dr Mubina Agboatwalla

-
Image
  Q. Do children develop kidney stones ? If yes then what are the symptoms and how can they be treated. A. Yes children as young as one year can develop kidney stones. Generally the stones are small and are found either in the renal pelvis or ureter. As they move down the ureter they can cause severe shooting pain in the back or in the flanks. This generally occurs when the child does not drink enough water. Atleast 8 glasses of water should be taken. Renal colic happens specially in the summer months. The urine may contain small quantities of red blood cells. It may or may not be accompanied by a urine infection. The pain is extremely severe and a shooting type of pain. There may be associated vomiting. Plenty of water should be given to flush out the stones. In rare cases laser surgery can be done. Website - https://www.drmubinaagboatwalla.com/
Read more

Typhoid

-
Image
Typhoid is a disease caused by eating contaminated food or drinking contaminated water. According to Dr. Mubina Agboatwalla - child specialist in Karachi , In recent years, typhoid has become more wide spread. Many resistant strains of typhoid have emerged so that patients do not respond to simple treatments. The clinical symptoms include high grade fever going up to 102 -103 °F. The fever does not touch the normal temperature and generally stays for more than a week. The child looks sick, toxic and lethargic. The tongue is coated white and a bad odor comes from the mouth. The child does not feel like eating and feels nauseated. There may be pain in the abdomen and diarrhea may develop. As time passes vomiting may start too. If not treated in time ulcers may develop in the intestines which can be very dangerous. There may be bleeding from the ulcers leading to blood in the stools and the ulcers may burst, which is a surgical emergency resulting in urgent surgery. ...
Read more

Q/A session with Dr Mubina Agboatwalla - Tonsils

-
Image
  Q. My child’s tonsils are very enlarged. Should I get them removed ?? A. You should get one thing clear is that tonsils are lymphatic tissues that protect the germs from entering the pharynx. In the young age group they provide a lot of protection.. They sometimes become enlarged due to infection but can be treated with medicines. However, in no condition should they be removed. Unless and untiAgter 5 years they start to get smaller. l they become so large as to prevent swallowing. They are like the pillars of protection. Keep a good oral hygiene and gargle daily with salt water. Website Link - https://www.drmubinaagboatwalla.com/
Read more