Various Types of Vaccination

¶ … Vaccination

Vaccines represent one of the most debated topics within the modern day society and the debate is far from reaching any common grounds. On the one hand, for instance, there are the researchers and the pharmaceutical companies which promote the intensive usage of vaccines across the globe in order to reduce the incidence of certain illnesses. On the other hand, there is growing concern over the secondary effects of vaccines, with more people across the globe refusing to vaccinate their children. While a conclusion has yet to be reached, there are numerous aspects of vaccination which still need attention. And one relevant example in this sense is represented by the administration of the vaccine, particularly that of administering it in one dose or in multiple doses.

The mono-dose in vaccine administration refers to a situation in which the vaccine is administered one time only and it protects the individual from that illness for an extended period of time. The multi-dose sees that an initial vaccine is administered throughout a first dose, and at a given interval in the future, one or more additional doses will be administered. The scope of the current project is that of assessing the reasons for this predicament.

The answer is a relatively simple one, in the meaning that a single dose is administered when this is considered sufficient to help prevent the diseases targeted (such as poliomyelitis or varicella, for instance), whereas multiple doses are administered when it is considered that higher quantities and concentrations of the vaccine are needed to help prevent the diseases or its spreading.

And this sufficiency is assessed through long-term studies and observations, meaning that the decision to administer single or multiple doses is based on strict and long-term research and analyses. In other words, researchers look at the impact of a mono-dose vaccine across time and assess the results, comparing them with those expected. Based on the findings, they assess whether the mono-dose was sufficient, and if this was not, they make the recommendation to administer additional doses.

The reasons for the inefficiency of the first dose are numerous and can vary from a situation to the other. For instance, there may be a situation in which, as a measure of precaution, the vaccine was created with a low concentration of the medicine -- this often happens in trial and new vaccine development efforts in order to test side effects. Through time and observation, it can be concluded that more substance is needed, therefore additional doses.

Aside from the vaccine itself, a major cause of insufficient response to a mono-dose is represented by external factors. For instance, while one dose of anti-poliomyelitides vaccine would be sufficient within the more developed western states, it might prove insufficient within the less developed regions of the globe, such as Africa for instance, where poliomyelitis is still highly present and threatening.

Another example of an environment which would generate the need for more doses of vaccine is represented by highly populated environments, in which diseases spread quickly and the mono-dose is insufficient to stop its spreading into a pandemic. And one of the most relevant examples in this sense is represented by the spreading of varicella within schools or kindergartens. The United States, for instance, conducted a study of the efficiency of a mono-dose of anti-varicella vaccination and found out that this was decreased, since epidemics were created, with the sole benefit of the children suffering from lighter forms of the illness. In light of these findings then, the recommendation was that of administering a second dose (Lopez, Guris, Zimmerman, Gladden, Moore, Haselow, Loparev, Schmid, Jumaan and Snow, 2006).