Antiserum vs. Vaccine

Antiserumnoun

(medicine) A serum prepared from human or animal sources containing antibodies specific for combatting an infectious disease.

Antiserumnoun

blood serum containing antibodies against specific antigens; provides immunity to a disease

Antiserum

Antiserum is human or nonhuman blood serum containing monoclonal or polyclonal antibodies that is used to spread passive immunity to many diseases via blood donation (plasmaphoresis). For example, convalescent serum, passive antibody transfusion from a previous human survivor, used to be the only known effective treatment for ebola infection with a high success rate of 7 out of 8 patients surviving.Antisera are widely used in diagnostic virology laboratories.

Vaccinenoun

(immunology) A substance given to stimulate the body's production of antibodies and provide immunity against a disease without causing the disease itself in the treatment, prepared from the agent that causes the disease, or a synthetic substitute.

Vaccineadjective

Of or pertaining to cows; pertaining to, derived from, or caused by, vaccinia; as, vaccine virus; the vaccine disease.

Vaccineadjective

Of or pertaining to a vaccine or vaccination.

Vaccinenoun

The virus of vaccinia used in vaccination.

Vaccinenoun

any preparation used to render an organism immune to some disease, by inducing or increasing the natural immunity mechanisms. Prior to 1995, such preparations usually contained killed organisms of the type for which immunity was desired, and sometimes used live organisms having attenuated virulence. Since that date, preparations containing only specific antigenic portions of the pathogenic organism have also been used. Some of these are prepared by genetic engineering techniques.

Vaccinenoun

A program designed to protect a computer from software viruses, by detecting and or eliminating them.

Vaccinenoun

immunogen consisting of a suspension of weakened or dead pathogenic cells injected in order to stimulate the production of antibodies

Vaccine

A vaccine is a biological preparation that provides active acquired immunity to a particular infectious disease. A vaccine typically contains an agent that resembles a disease-causing microorganism and is often made from weakened or killed forms of the microbe, its toxins, or one of its surface proteins.