Assignment:
Regulating Immunity
The human digestive track is populated by trillions of “friendly” bacteria. These organisms are considered to be commensal because they provide benefit to the human host.
a. What special features of the immune system in the tissues which surround the intestines help avoid an overreaction to commensal bacteria?
b. Consider the last day of the creation account as it appears in Genesis 1:31. God looked at all He had created and declared it very good. At that point in time there was no disease and everything was in balance. How might the diminished immune response to commensal bacteria and the typical immune response to pathogen organisms relate to the account?
Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS)
The headline read, “Princeton Students May Get Unapproved Meningitis Vaccine.” The news was announced following an outbreak of the potentially fatal disease on campus. Seven Princeton students had already died with type B meningococcal meningitis by the time the decision to import the vaccine was made. Even with the best treatments about 10% of infected people die. Survivors of the disease often suffer from neurologic complications and disability. The meningitis vaccine available in the United States at the time of the outbreak covered several strains of meningococcal bacteria, but had no efficacy against the B strain of the bacteria. The “unapproved” vaccine in question had recently been approved for use in Europe and Australia and provided coverage for type B meningococcal bacteria. The use of the “unapproved” vaccine was clearly controversial.
a. Put yourself in the situation of the public health specialist involved in the management of the outbreak. How do you feel about the use of an “unapproved” vaccine in this type of situation?
b. As the vaccine expert, what must you consider before recommending the use of any vaccine—approved or unapproved—for use in a mass vaccination campaign of this type?
Killed vs. Live Vaccines
We have covered a number of different vaccines. Some of these vaccines are derived from killed pathogens. Others contain live attenuated viruses.
a. Compare the advantages and disadvantages of killed virus vaccines and attenuated virus vaccines.
b. Assume you are the head of a national immunization program and have been tasked with choosing between the use of a killed and an attenuated vaccine that have been recently developed for an emerging contagious viral disease. What criteria would be the most important for you to decide between using the killed vs. the attenuated versions of this new vaccine?
Your answer must be, typed, double-spaced, Times New Roman font (size 12), one-inch margins on all sides, APA format.