Immunization or Vaccination is an important part of an individual’s life. They help in protecting the individual’s body from pathogens, microbes, and other disease casting organisms. Vaccinations treat life-threatening diseases such as measles, polio, whooping cough, and tenements.
Working Of Vaccinations
Our body’s immune system is responsible for fighting against harmful microbes and disease-causing pathogens. Vaccines can be a protein coat made up of the pathogen. They can be either the deactivated form of the pathogen or weakened form. In addition, vaccines can be toxic containing toxins to cause phagocytosis of pathogens. When a vaccine is injected, the body fights off an actual infection and develops antibodies against it. Later, such infection and route of preparation of antibodies are recognized.
Most vaccines consist of two parts- antigen and adjuvant. The antigen is the disease that your immune system learns about. Whereas, adjuvant helps to send danger signals and fight against antigen infection.
Immunization/ Vaccination Panel
Measles, Mumps, Rubella (MMR)
The MMR test helps to measure the immunity of people to measles, mumps, and rubella by determining the antibody levels. This test also helps to diagnose measles, mumps, and rubella viruses.
Measles is a highly contagious viral infection that spreads through the air by respiratory droplets. The common signs and symptoms of Measles include extreme fatigue, runny nose, skin rashes, sore throat, diarrheas’ Koplik’s spots, swelling in lymph nodes, and conjunctivitis. It majorly spreads in children making their immune system weak.
Mumps is another viral infection that spreads in children affecting the saliva-producing glands. It causes swelling and pain in salivary gains, headaches, fatigue, high fever, and loss of appetite.
Another contagious viral infection that leads to the development of rashes on the skin is rubella. The virus is responsible for causing rubella to speed through saliva, mucus, and air droplets of infected persons to another individual.
Hepatitis B Surface Antigen (HBsAg)
This test confirms the presence of the hepatitis B virus. It also measures the immunity of people to fight against hepatitis, the presence of antibodies, and the presence of antigens.
Hepatitis B is caused by the hepatitis B virus (HBV) that spreads through the semen, blood, and other body fluids of the infected person. The common signs and symptoms associated with hepatitis B include fatigue, yellowing kg eyes, dark urine, severe pain in the abdomen, swelling of blood vessels in the skin, and fluid in the abdomen. Hepatitis B is a vaccine-preventable infection in the liver. If left untreated, an individual may require a liver transplant. Henceforth, it’s crucial to get the Vaccination shots for hepatitis B.
Varicella Zoster Virus (VZV)
This test measures the immunity of people to fight against chickenpox (children) and shingles (adults) by determining the development of IgG antibodies. Chickenpox is a contagious viral infection caused by the varicella-zoster virus. It causes blisters, scabs, ulcers, and red spots on the skin of the infected person. In addition, it also leads to fatigue, headaches, swelling of lymph nodes, and sore throat. In adults, another name for the reactivation of chickenpox virus is shingles. Shingles cause painful rashes and blisters on the torso in adults.
Importance Of Immunization Panel
Measles, if left untreated, can cause serious complications such as brain damage, seizures, and pneumonia. Mumps can cause permanent hearing loss if not treated by vaccination. In addition, miscarriages, congenital malformations, and the death of newborns associate with rubella. Therefore, the MMR immunization panel is crucial. Hepatitis B is a life-threatening viral infection that can cause death due to liver cancer and cirrhosis. It can also lead to inflammation and liver failure. So, the Varicella Zoster Virus test helps to determine the immunity of individuals to fight the virus.
Chickenpox and shingles can cause several serious complications such as dehydration, pneumonia, encephalitis, cerebellar ataxia, bacterial infections of the skin and soft tissues, and bleeding problems. Immunization or vaccination tests help to confirm the immunity levels and signal whether there is a need to take a booster shot or not. They determine the effectiveness of vaccines and help to fight preventable diseases.
Conclusion
Immunization/ vaccination help in protecting the individual’s body from pathogens, microbes, and other disease casting organisms. Measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) test help to measure the immunity of people to measles, mumps, and rubella by determining the antibody levels. Hepatitis B Surface Antigen (HBsAg) confirms the presence of hepatitis B virus, antibodies, and antigen and measures the immunity to fight against the virus. The Varicella-Zoster Virus (VZV) test measures the immunity of people to fight against chickenpox (children) and shingles (adults) by determining the development of IgG antibodies. All these tests help to confirm the immunity levels and signal whether there is a need to take a booster shot or not.