The popular saying “prevention is better than cure” applies to vaccination. Whether in drops or injection, it is a safe means of protection and strengthening of immunity, being of great importance for the health of the population. Understand how vaccines work and who are the professionals responsible for their creation.
The Importance of Vaccination
The first vaccine was produced in 1776, more than 200 years ago. It was the vaccine against the smallpox virus, now eradicated. With technological advances in medicine, many of the common diseases in the world – such as polio, measles, rubella, tetanus and whooping cough – are no longer a public health problem because of the massive vaccination of the population. This is one of the most effective mechanisms in the defense of the human organism against infectious and bacterial agents.
But even with many controlled diseases, it is important to note that unvaccinated people can still be the gateway to eliminated diseases. For this reason, the importance of vaccination goes far beyond individual prevention: those who do not get vaccinated not only put their own health at risk, but also that of their families and other people with whom they have contact.
How Vaccines Work
Vaccines are intended to simulate an infectious disease, only safely, without causing the disease or serious side effects. What the vaccine does is to generate that immunity with the same antigens that cause the disease, but weakened or killed.
In this way, the vaccine teaches and stimulates the immune system to produce the antibodies that lead to immunity. Therefore, vaccination makes people develop immunity without the disease developing.
Every vaccine licensed for use goes through several stages of evaluation – from the initial development processes to production and the final application stage. In addition, they are evaluated and approved by strict and independent regulatory institutes.
Biomedicine or Pharmacy?
Although both careers are designed to ensure public health, in practice, medicines and vaccines are designed in different ways.
While the pharmacist acts more directly in the production and manipulation of medicines, the Biomedical specialist in the area of Immunology is responsible for the production of vaccines. This professional deals directly with the study of infectious diseases and mechanisms of treatment and prevention of pathologies.
Although Biomedicine is relatively new among the health sciences, it is quite diverse. The Biomedical can graduate in a wide range of qualifications, such as microbiology, mycology, cytopathology, molecular biology, pathological anatomy and physiology and work in hospitals, universities, research centers and laboratories. It is mainly within public health laboratories that biomedicals contribute to the health of the population as a whole.
At the university, most of the subjects studied are in the field of Biological Sciences, such as cellular and molecular biology, genetics, clinical hematology, which allow the student to acquire theoretical and practical knowledge about the possibilities of using vaccines for the treatment and prevention of numerous diseases.