Glossary

Author: Glossary

  • Typhus vaccine

    A sterile suspension of the killed rickettsial organism of a strain or strains of epidemic typhus rickettsiae.  

  • Typhoid vaccine

    One of two forms of vaccine against typhoid fever. Attenuated (weakened) live virus is used for an oral vaccine taken in four doses by adults and children over age 6; it provides protection for 5 years. This vaccine should not be given to persons taking antimicrobial drugs or to those with AIDS. A parenteral type…

  • Smallpox vaccine

    A vaccine used to provide immunity against smallpox, one of the deadliest infections in the history of humanity. The vaccine is made from live vaccinia virus (not from the smallpox virus ). Similarities between the two viruses make the vaccine about 95% effective in preventing smallpox in those people exposed to the virus. Smallpox vaccine…

  • Sensitized vaccine

    A vaccine prepared from bacteria treated with their specific immune serum. A vaccine formulated with inactivated pathogens, enhanced with the addition of the patient’s own antibody substances.  

  • Reassortant vaccine

    A vaccine made by combining antigens from several viruses or from several strains of the same virus.  

  • Rabies vaccine

    A vaccine prepared from killed rabies virus used for pre-exposure immunization for persons at high occupational risk. Following a bite by a rabid animal, both the vaccine and rabies immune globulin, containing preformed antibodies, are given.  

  • Pneumococcal 7 -valent conjugate vaccine

    A pneumococcal vaccine used for active immunization of infants and toddlers. The vaccine contains antigens from 7 capsular serotypes of Streptococcus pneumoniae.  

  • Polyvalent pneumococcal vaccine

    A vaccine that contains 23 of the known 83 pneumococcal capsular polysaccharides, and induces immunity against Streptococcus pneumoniae, a gram-positive bacterium that causes ear, sinus, lung, blood, and meningeal infections. This vaccine is used to prevent pneumococcal disease in persons with sickle cell diseases; alcoholism; asplenia; chronic heart, lung, liver, or kidney disease; diabetes mellitus;…

  • Polyvalent vaccine

    A vaccine produced from cultures of a number of strains of the same species. A vaccine created from multiple bacterial strains within the same species.  

  • Plague vaccine

    A vaccine made either from a crude fraction of killed plague bacilli, Yersinia pestis, or synthetically from recombinant proteins. It is rarely used, except in a laboratory or for field workers in areas where plague is endemic. A vaccine employed to establish immunity against the plague.