Swine flu vaccine kick-starts body’s immune system
BY SUSAN SIMPSON NewsOK.com
Saturday, October 10, 2009
10/10/09 at 8:20 AM
Related Story: More H1N1 vaccine is expected in Oklahoma
Vaccines aren’t cures, but they have prevented major illnesses and are a star player in the current fight against H1N1, or swine flu, scientists at the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation said.
"Vaccines are not medicine, in the strictest sense of the word,” said Dr. Judith James.
"Vaccines are actually filled with a dead or weakened virus or bacteria, which prompt your body to make its own medicine.”
When the vaccine is injected or inhaled in a spray form, components of the viruses or bacteria, also called antigens, make their way into the body.
The immune system goes on high alert, dispatching white blood cells, called B cells, to identify the intruders and figure out how to defeat them.
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Associated Images:
The intranasal H1N1 vaccine is displayed at the primary care clinic at Children's Hospital Boston. Lisa Poole/AP Photo
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