B2-2 What are vaccines and antibiotics and how do they work?

Question 1

What is a vaccine?

Answer 1

A vaccine is a dead or inactive version of a micro-organism.

Question 2

What does a vaccination do?

Answer 2

Vaccinations are something that provide immunity to certain illnesses - a head start in fighting the microbes that attack your body.

Question 3

How is this possible?

Answer 3

First a dead or weak version of the microbe is injected into the body (harmless). These MO’s have the same antigens meaning the WBC will produce antigens. This means that memory cells will be left behind. When the actual disease comes into the body, it will be fought off as there are memory cells in place.

Question 4

What does the MMR vaccine immunise?

Answer 4

Measles, mumps and rubella

Question 5

How can epidemics be prevented?

Answer 5

If the majority of people are vaccinated, then the spread of diseases is very unlikely as even people that haven’t been vaccinated won’t get ill as there will be fewer people with the disease.

Question 6

What is one disease that has been virtually wiped out?

Answer 6

Smallpox

Question 7

What is an issue with vaccines and drugs?

Answer 7

They can never be completely safe for everyone as different people could have different side effects from them.

Question 8

What is another issue?

Answer 8

Genetic differences mean that people will react differently e.g. anaesthetics may last for different periods of time for different people.

Question 9

What are Antimicrobials?

Answer 9

Chemicals that kill or inhibit bacteria fungi and viruses.

Question 10

What is an Antibiotic?

Answer 10

It is an Antimicrobial that is effective versus bacteria but not viruses.

Question 11

What is it known as when antibiotics begin to stop working against bacteria and fungi?

Answer 11

Antibiotic Resistance

Question 12

How does this happen?

Answer 12

Micro-organisms sometimes have random MUTATIONS in their DNA, sometimes meaning they are less affected by the antimicrobial.

Question 13

What happens to this micro-organism?

Answer 13

It stays alive for longer, hence it multiplies more and leads to its gene of ‘resistance’ being passed on. All the divisions will have resistance now.

Question 14

How can this be a problem?

Answer 14

You can’t easily get rid of them, meaning that they keep on developing. This can, overtime, turn into a SUPERBUG, which becomes resistant to most known antimicrobials.

Question 15

What is an example of ‘Superbug’?

Answer 15

MRSA

Question 16

How can we reduce antibiotic resistance?

Answer 16

1. Only take antibiotics when necessary.

2. ALWAYS finish your course, even when you think you feel better, ensure that all microbes are DEAD.

Question 17

How are drugs tested? In order of production?

Answer 17

Human body cells, living mammals (rats or monkeys), then finally humans in CLINICAL Trials.

Question 18

What happens if the drug causes animals serious illness?

Answer 18

The testing is usually terminated

Question 19

How many types of human trials are there?

Answer 19

3

Question 20

What are these called?

Answer 20

Blind, Double Blind and Open-label.

Question 21

What is a clinical trial?

Answer 21

This is a trial where real humans are tested with the drug.

Question 22

What is the process of a clinical trial?

Step 1:

Answer 22

First the drug is tested for safety on healthy volunteers - this is to make sure there are no harmful side effects on a normal body.

Question 23

Step 2:

Answer 23

If those results are good, they move on to testing on people suffering from the illness - tested for safety and effectiveness.

Question 24

Step 3:

Answer 24

Placebos are usually used to compare what the two groups felt - placebo and non-placebo

Question 25

Step 4:

Answer 25

If the drug works, the people with the real drug will have improved more than the others.
If there are side-effects, the real drug group will report feeling these more than the others.

Question 26

What is a blind trial?

Answer 26

Where the patient doesn’t know whether they’re taking a real drug or not - this is to eliminate any psychological factors.

Question 27

What is a double-blind trial?

Answer 27

This is where the doctors or the patients do not know - this is to remove the doctors influence while monitoring the effects.

Question 28

What is an open-label trial?

Answer 28

This is where everyone knows all the information - this is used when it is not possible to mask the treatments being tested.

Question 29

What are the ethical issues to using placebos in human trials?

Answer 29

People think it is unethical to give suffering patients a placebo as it could take away from the potential treatment of their illness and also give false hope.

Question 30

What is the importance of long-term drug trials?

Answer 30

It is important because in some cases it takes a while for the drug to have the effect it was designed to. Also you could find out about any side effects which may appear after only a long time.