Toggle menu
14087800908

Basic principles of immunization

inf-2015-9-22

Isolation or transmission-based precautions

Ayliffe G.A.J. (1996) Recommendations for the Control of Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA); World Health Organization, Division of Emerging and other Communicable Diseases, Surveillance and Control. Geneva.

Ayliffe G.A.J., Coates D. & Hoffman P.N (1993) Chemical Disinfection in Hospitals, 2nd edition London: PHLS.

Ayliffe G.A.J., Lowbury E.J.L., Geddes A.M. & Williams J.D. (1993) Control of Hospital Infection: A practical handbook 3rd edition, London: Chapman & Hall Medical. British pharmacopaeia, 1988.

Department of Health (1990). Guidance for Clinical Workers, Protection against infection with HIV and Hepatitis Viruses: Recommendations of the Expert Advisory Group on AIDS London: HMSO. European phamacopaeia, 2nd edition 1990.

Lynch P., Jackson M., Preston G.A. & Soule B.M. (1997) Infection Prevention with Limited Resources: A handbook for infection committees Chicago: ETNA Communications LLC.

 

Resources on the world wide web:

www.who.int

www.cdc.gov

www.phls.co.uk

Basic principles of immunization

Immunization occurs when a specific resistance to an infectious disease is induced by the administration of a vaccine. Immunization can be active or passive. Active immunization involves the stimulation of an individual’s immune system to produce antibodies. This can be achieved by the administration of:

• live attenuated organisms: the organism’s pathogenicity is reduced by sequential subculturing (for example, oral poliomyelitis, BCG, yellow fever, measles, mumps, rubella);

• inactivated organisms: the organisms have been inactivated by chemical means (for example, rabies, Japanese B encephalitis, hepatitis A);

• toxoid: the inactivated products of an organism (for example, diphtheria, tetanus);

• components of organisms: such as capsular polysaccharides (for example, meningococcal, pneumococcal); and

• genetically engineered viral products (for example, hepatitis B).

Passive immunization does not induce an antibody response; rather it involves the direct transfer of antibodies by the administration of immunoglobulin derived from blood donations. Immunity is gained immediately but is short-lived. Sometimes normal pooled immunoglobulin contains sufficient antibodies to be protective (e.g. hepatitis A) but specific immunoglobulin may need to be prepared by taking blood from actively immunized donors (e.g. hepatitis B and rabies)