Question

How antibiotics and vaccines contributed to health? Explain

Answer 1

They can treat bacterial infections (antibiotics), prevent infections by viruses (viral vaccines) and prevent infections from a limited number of bacteria (bacterial vaccines).

You can think of it this way:ntibiotics

are for

treatment

of bacterial infections and

vaccines

are for

prevention

of some infectious diseases.

More information:

Antibiotics

are a type of drug used against

bacteria

, but they are

notffective for viral infections (like a cold or flu). Bacteria and viruses are two different types of microorganisms (germs). Antibiotics kill bacteria that cause infectious disease, like Strep throat and Staph infection in a cut on your skin. They are given to

treat

a bacterial infection that has already started.

[The similar types of drugs, used to

treat

a viral infection that has already started, are called anti-viral drugs (instead of antibiotics).]Vaccines

are used in animals and humans to

prevent

them from getting infectious diseases. For examples: polio, small pox, and hepatitis, which are

viral

infections, can be prevented by vaccines made specifically to do that. There are currently only a few vaccines for use toprevent

specific

bacterial

infections. More often vaccines are made for prevention of viral infections.Vaccines are used to inoculate you with the specific antigen for which they are made. Antigens are the organisms or substances that can make you ill, like viruses, cat dander (if allergic), and bacteria. This inoculation is also called a vaccination. That just means to get the antigen in your body by some clinical method, such as flu shots and nasal sprays. The antigens are introduced in small quantities that have been processed to be inactive or weak, so they can cause the immune reaction needed for

protection

, but

not

give you the infection or illness.

Vaccinations

force your body to create special cells that can attack that specific antigen in the vaccine. These special cells are called

antibodies

and they will remain part of your immune system after you are inoculated and have achieved

immunity

from the vaccination. This protects you from the antigen in the future. If the same antigen is identified by your immune system later, the antibody cells, which were made in reaction to the vaccination, and which were designed to protect you from that antigen, can be produced quickly and sent out in your blood stream to

protect

you from getting sick