Aspects of this topic are discussed in the following places at Britannica.
...antibodies do not react to the entire pathogen but only to a specific part of it, which is called an antigen. An individual can acquire immunity for a specific pathogen passively or actively. In passive immunization a person receives antibodies or lymphocytes that have been produced by another individual’s immune system; in active immunization the individual’s own immune system is stimulated...
Passive immunity is the administration of antibodies to an unimmunized person from an immune subject to provide temporary protection against a microbial agent or toxin. This type of immunity can be conferred on persons who are exposed to measles, mumps, whooping cough, poliomyelitis, rabies, rubella (German measles), tetanus, chickenpox, and herpes zoster (shingles). The process is also used in...
in immune system: Passive immunization )It is sometimes the case that an infectious organism or a poisonous substance can have such a rapid deleterious effect that the victim does not have time to develop an immune response spontaneously. At such times passive immunization with preformed antibodies can provide life-saving assistance in combating the pathogen or poison. This situation may arise in victims of poisonous snakebites or...
There are two methods of preventing hepatitis B: passive immunization, through the use of a specific immunoglobulin derived from patients who have successfully overcome an acute HBV infection; and active immunization, through the injection of noninfective, purified HBV surface antigen. The first method is used following specific exposures that carry a high risk of infection, such as using...
Passive immunization with serum or globulin (antibodies) from immune persons has been used to prevent viral infections. Immunoglobulins, such as those used against hepatitis and respiratory syncytial virus, are effective only for prevention, not for treatment.
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Aspects of this topic are discussed in the following places at Britannica.
...antibodies do not react to the entire pathogen but only to a specific part of it, which is called an antigen. An individual can acquire immunity for a specific pathogen passively or actively. In passive immunization a person receives antibodies or lymphocytes that have been produced by another individual’s immune system; in active immunization the individual’s own immune system is stimulated...
Passive immunity is the administration of antibodies to an unimmunized person from an immune subject to provide temporary protection against a microbial agent or toxin. This type of immunity can be conferred on persons who are exposed to measles, mumps, whooping cough, poliomyelitis, rabies, rubella (German measles), tetanus, chickenpox, and herpes zoster (shingles). The process is also used in...
in immune system: Passive immunization )It is sometimes the case that an infectious organism or a poisonous substance can have such a rapid deleterious effect that the victim does not have time to develop an immune response spontaneously. At such times passive immunization with preformed antibodies can provide life-saving assistance in combating the pathogen or poison. This situation may arise in victims of poisonous snakebites or...
There are two methods of preventing hepatitis B: passive immunization, through the use of a specific immunoglobulin derived from patients who have successfully overcome an acute HBV infection; and active immunization, through the injection of noninfective, purified HBV surface antigen. The first method is used following specific exposures that carry a high risk of infection, such as using...
Passive immunization with serum...
Aspects of this topic are discussed in the following places at Britannica.
Prophylactic immunization refers to the artificial establishment of specific immunity, a technique that has significantly reduced suffering and death from a variety of infectious diseases. There are two types of prophylactic immunization: passive immunization, in which protection is conferred by introducing preformed antibodies or lymphocytes from another individual whose immune system was...
Aspects of this topic are discussed in the following places at Britannica.
...be prepared from the blood of humans or other species (e.g., horses or rabbits) that have already developed specific immunity against the relevant antigens. These preparations are known as antiserums. (This explains the original term for passive immunization, which is serum therapy.) Human IgG is slowly broken down in the recipient’s body, the concentration falling by about one-half...
Aspects of this topic are discussed in the following places at Britannica.
Passive protection with tetanus antitoxin should be administered in all cases of injuries that may be contaminated by clostridial spores. Active immunization with tetanus toxoid (prepared by chemical modification of toxin) is a relatively slow process, requiring weeks or months to become effective, and must be renewed every few years (booster doses). A first dose should be given to every...
in infectious disease: Tetanus toxoid )The efficacy of active immunization against tetanus was illustrated most dramatically during World War II, when the introduction of tetanus toxoid among military personnel virtually eliminated the occurrence of the disease as a result of war-related injuries. Since then, the routine immunization of civilian populations with tetanus toxoid has resulted in the decreased incidence of tetanus. In...
process by which resistance to disease is acquired or induced in plants and animals. This discussion focuses on immunization against infectious diseases in vertebrate animals, specifically humans.
Immunization may occur naturally, as when a person is exposed unintentionally to a pathogen (any infectious agent), or it may be brought about artificially through a vaccine. In either case, immunization provides resistance, or immunity, to a particular pathogen by means of antibody proteins that are targeted to eliminate that pathogen from the body. These antibodies do not react to the entire pathogen but only to a specific part of it, which is called an antigen. An individual can acquire immunity for a specific pathogen passively or actively. In passive immunization a person receives antibodies or lymphocytes that have been produced by another individual’s immune system; in active immunization the individual’s own immune system is stimulated to produce antibodies and lymphocytes.
Passive immunization imparts immediate, but not long-lasting, protection against a pathogen and may arise naturally, such as when a fetus receives antibodies from the mother across the placenta or when a breast-feeding infant ingests antibodies in the mother’s milk. Passive immunization against a particular pathogen, such as the hepatitis B virus (HBV), also can be conferred artificially. A person lacking immunity to HBV can receive a preparation called immune serum globulin that contains antibodies formed against the virus. These antibodies are obtained from serum taken from animal or human donors who previously were infected by or immunized against the virus.
Active immunization stimulates the immune system to produce antibodies against a particular infectious agent. Active immunity can arise naturally, as when someone is exposed to a pathogen. For example, an individual who recovers...
