Vaccines: The Basics

Vaccines contain the same germs that cause disease. (For example, measles vaccine contains measles virus, and Hib vaccine contains Hib bacteria.) But they have been either killed or weakened to the point that they don’t make you sick. Some vaccines contain only a part of the disease germ.

A vaccine stimulates your immune system to produce antibodies, exactly like it would if you were exposed to the disease. After getting vaccinated, you develop immunity to that disease, without having to get the disease first.

This is what makes vaccines such powerful medicine. Unlike most medicines, which treat or cure diseases, vaccines prevent them.

For more than the basics, see:

Vaccines and Your Child’s Immune System
How Vaccines Prevent Disease
Ensuring Vaccine Safety
Demos – See in action
- How Vaccines Workexternal icon
  Source: History of Vaccines
- Types of Vaccinesexternal icon
  Source: History of Vaccines
- How Vaccines are Madeexternal icon
  Source: History of Vaccines
- How the Vaccinated Protect the Unvaccinatedexternal icon
  Source: History of Vaccines
Ingredients of Vaccines – Fact Sheet
List of all vaccines used in United States
Photos of vaccines and vaccine-preventable diseases
10 Things You Need to Know About Immunizations
Vaccine Information Statements
Explain the benefits and risks of a vaccine.
Vaccination Schedules
History of vaccines: Lesson plansexternal icon
Source: History of Vaccines
Vaccines for Uninsured Children