Please view the Frontline special, The Vaccine War (Links to an external site.)L
ID: 255230 • Letter: P
Question
Please view the Frontline special, The Vaccine War (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. [Video file][56:33 mins]. Public Broadcasting Service (PBS). Retrieved August 1, 2017, from Academic Video Online: Premium. (Use Firefox or Chrome to view the video)
The scenario:
A young mother rushes her four month old infant to the hospital emergency department and reports her infant gasping for air due to an asthma attack. An ED nurse evaluates the infant and questions the mother. The infant is cyanotic, irritable and experiencing a paroxysmal cough. The infant’s temperature is taken and noted as 103.8°F. The mother reveals the infant has been experiencing a cough and congestion for two weeks or more. The infant was born at home and has not been seen by a family practitioner or pediatrician to date. The infant has been exposed to neighborhood children ill with a mild cough. Chest x-rays are taken and blood samples are analyzed. The laboratory results indicate a highly elevated leukocyte count. Pronounced pneumonia is evident in the radiograph. In your post address the following:
Explain (and justify) to the infant’s mother that this is not an asthma attack and identify the likely infectious agent.
Explain that this is a vaccine-preventable disease and explain how vaccines prevent disease.
Explanation / Answer
Answer 1:- Coughing and breathing problems are both associated with asthma and pneumonia, but there are certain differences between the two conditions. Some of the differences are as follows:-
So, as can be seen above the symptoms written in the question exactly matches with the symptoms of pneumonia. This can be explained to the mother and it can also be told that the likely cause of infection is either a bacteria or a virus, to which the child might have got exposed during his contact with neighborhood children.
Answer 2:- Physicians usually recommend immunization for children and adults. Children get the pneumococcal vaccine as part of their routine shots with vaccines for other diseases. Vaccines can help in prevention of several diseases if taken before getting exposed to the disease. Vaccines contain the same germs that cause disease. For example, measles vaccine contains measles virus. The germs in the vaccines are either killed or weakened and is used to ellicit an immune response in the body of the person the vaccine is given to. Once the vaccine is given to the person it will help in formation of memory B cells. Memory B cells are a type of cells that form a memory of the antigen that has attacked the body's immune system and produces antibodies against it next time it attacks the person. The antigens in the vaccine help in the development of memory B cells and the germs which are weakened in the vaccine are cleared easily by the immune system. In future, whenever the same pathogen attacks the body the immune system is ready to combat and prevents the infection in a very strong manner. Thus helping in prevention of diseases. This is how immunization helps in prevention of various diseases.