Question

Do toxoid vaccines result in passive or active immunity? How can this be explained?

Answer 1

Toxoid vaccines help in developing life long active immunity.

Explanation:

When our body gets infected by germs, though the body suffers from the disease, it also develops immunity against the disease. (Problem is that the first attack may kill the victim.)

This is possible because lymphocytes of our body are able to remember the foreign molecules/agents that infect us in childhood.

Memory cells are created from exposed lymphocytes which will be preserved through out life. In case of second or subsequent invasion by the same disease causing agent, memory cells will proliferate to give rise to an army of fighting lymphocytes. Thus body will not suffer from the same disease any more.

Based on this idea scientists started injecting dead/attenuated/modified toxins(toxoid) in healthy children. This prompted the immune system to develop a life long immunity against these chosen disease causing agents.

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Toxoids are generated from bacterial toxins and are used to immunise against tetanus, diphtheria, etc.