MICROBIOLOGY AND PARASITOLOGY

Activity 9: Virus

1. How do scientists develop vaccines for new viruses?

- Vaccines work by tricking our bodies into believing we are infected with a virus. Our bodies
mount an immunological response and creates a memory of the virus, allowing us to fight it
in the future. Because viruses and the immune system interact in such intricate ways, there
are numerous approaches to generating an effective vaccine. Inactivated vaccines (which
contain innocuous viruses that have been 'dead' but still stimulate the immune system) and
attenuated vaccines are the two most prevalent forms (which use live viruses that have been
modified so that they trigger an immune response without causing us harm). Recombinant
vaccines are a relatively recent invention that involves genetically modifying a less damaging
virus to include a small portion of the target virus. Our immune system responds not only to
the carrier virus, but also to the target virus.

2. What are the ingredients in a vaccine?

- Ingredients found in some vaccines:
 Stabilizers
- Purpose: To keep the vaccine effective after manufacturing
-Most found in: Jell-O®, naturally in the body
-Examples: Sugars, gelatin
 Adjuvants
- Purpose: To help boost the body’s response to the vaccine
-Most found in: Drinking water, infant formula, and some health products such as
antacids, buffered aspirin, and antiperspirants
-Examples: Aluminum salts
 Residual inactivating ingredients
- Purpose: To kill viruses or inactivate toxins during the manufacturing process
-Most found in: Naturally in the human body, fruit, household furnishings (carpets,
upholstering)
-Example: Formaldehyde†
 Residual cell culture materials
- Purpose: To grow enough of the virus or bacteria to make the vaccine
-Most found in: Eggs, and foods that contain eggs
-Examples: Egg protein^
 Residual antibiotics
- Purpose: To prevent contamination by bacteria during the vaccine manufacturing
process
-Most found in: Common antibiotics. Antibiotics that people are most likely to be
allergic to—like penicillin—aren’t used in vaccines.
-Examples: Neomycin, Kanamycin, Streptomycin
  Preservatives
- Purpose: To prevent contamination
-Most found in: Some kinds of fish
-Example: Thimerosal (only in multi-dose vials of flu vaccine)*

3. How are vaccines tested for safety?

- Scientists devote a significant amount of effort to researching the virus that causes the
disease and discovering the best ways to target it with a vaccine. After scientists develop a
potential vaccine (dubbed a "vaccine candidate"), it is tested in a laboratory, usually on
animals. If substantial safety concerns that could endanger humans occur, work on the
vaccine candidate is halted at this point. A vaccine candidate is eventually evaluated in
healthy individuals during phase 1 clinical trials. A small group of people, approximately 25-
50, are given the vaccine to test its safety.

4. Explain why antibiotics work against bacteria but not viruses.

- Because viruses have different structures and multiply differently than bacteria, antibiotics
cannot kill them.
- Antibiotics function by killing or inhibiting certain bacteria by targeting their growth
machinery (not viruses).
- When you think about it structurally, it makes logical that an antibiotic might be ineffective
against a virus with an entirely different set of reproducing "machines."

5. How can a vaccine protect you against a disease?

- To understand how vaccines function, first consider how the body fights illness. As germs
enter the body, such as bacteria or viruses, they attack and multiply. Disease is caused by
this invasion, which is known as an infection. To fight infection, your immune system
employs white blood cells. These white blood cells are mostly macrophages, B lymphocytes,
and T lymphocytes:

 Macrophages are white blood cells that consume pathogens as well as dead or dying
cells. Antigens are components of the invading microorganisms that macrophages
leave behind. Antigens are recognized as hazardous by the body, prompting
antibodies to destroy them.
 B-lymphocytes are white blood cells that create antibodies to fight infection.
 T-lymphocytes are another sort of protective white blood cell that detects a known
germ if the body is exposed to it again.