What is a vaccine?
Rosanna Gullveig
H1N1, swine flu, piggy flu … it goes by many names. Unless you’ve been living under a rock the past six months, you’re probably aware of the global pandemic which is the Influenza A virus, subtype H1N1 flu. This virulent pathogen has claimed the lives of nearly 9000 people since its initial outbreak in late-March 2009. With so many people falling ill, the scientific and medical communities have rushed to produce a vaccine that can help protect the world’s population from a deadly epidemic like the flu of 1918, when 3% of the world’s population died of the virus.
So the real question is, how do vaccines work?
I’m not going to give you a history of vaccines, nor explain how Edward Jenner developed the first vaccine against smallpox. Instead, I am going to focus on how vaccines work, with an emphasis on the H1N1 vaccine.
Simply put, vaccines work by giving your immune system a jump-start on defending your body. It can take your body up to 21 days in order to create the antibodies required to recognize and attack a foreign pathogen. In the case of particularly virulent pathogens, 21 days can mean death, which is where vaccines come in. A vaccine is traditionally a weakened or dead version of the virus. It isn’t able to attack the body and cause illness, but it possesses the same chemical markers which allows your body to recognize it, and in turn start the process of creating the antibodies specific to the virus itself. This means that roughly 21 days after receiving a vaccine, your body now possesses the antibodies it needs to fight off a future infection by the offending virus.
Of course, vaccines aren’t perfect. First of all, you are only protected against the EXACT virus for which you were vaccinated. This means that any mutation or variation to the genetic code of the virus will result in a virus against which you aren’t protected. This is why the regular flu shot is different every year, and you are encouraged to get it each time.
The other problem is that when you are given the vaccine, it contains OTHER things. If you’ve heard anything about the H1N1 vaccine, you might know that there is both a non-adjuvant version, and an adjuvant version. An adjuvant is an additive which helps boost your immune system in order to increase your immunity. This can be a combination of water, vitamins, oils, and salts. Squalene, a steroid based oil, is the main adjuvant found in the H1N1 vaccine. It works by increasing the production of CD4 memory cells, which are essential cells in the immuno-cascade that permits antigen recognition. In other words, squalene helps your body react to the weakened virus faster, thus boosting your immunity.
The adjuvant H1N1 vaccine also contains water and vitamin E. Furthermore, most of the H1N1 vaccines are currently grown in chicken-egg based cultures. The adjuvants are what cause most of the problems commonly associated with vaccines, and when people say that a vaccine hasn’t been tested, they are most often referring to the interaction between the virus and the particular adjuvant. Some people are allergic to components of the adjuvant, which is why it is not encouraged for them to take it. Pregnant or nursing women are also discouraged from getting an adjuvant, as it can interfere with the growth of the fetus.
The administration of vaccines is also associated with Guillaume-Barre syndrome (GBS), an autoimmune disease, which is triggered by an acute infectious disease. When a vaccine is administered, the body creates an immunological response attacking the pathogen. If the immune response misses its target and attacks host nerve tissue instead, it causes the destruction of myelin, the fatty substance which surrounds nerve cells. This results in numbness, tingling and weakness in limbs. Research suggests that GBS might be a rare side effect of Influenza vaccines, at a rate of 1 per 1 million doses.
The combination of these, plus side effects such as temporary redness and swelling at the injection site, is what makes some people think twice about receiving the vaccine. The problem is that without the vaccine, you are leaving both yourself and your loved ones vulnerable to a virulent pathogen. If you don’t have immunity, you are not only vulnerable to the virus, but you also become a carrier, able to transmit the virus to others. As long as the virus has a potential carrier, its eradication is impossible.
So there you have it. The H1N1 vaccine is meant to prepare your body from a future attack, thus allowing your body to fight off the infection. The new question becomes… now that you know how a vaccine works, will you be getting it?
