Many questions about vaccines arise from a misunderstanding of how the immune system works. The Vaccine Education Center at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) has put together simple to understand primers on how the immune system functions:
- About this Section Provides an overview of each of the other pages.
- Types of Immunity Describes how passive and active immunity are achieved and describes community immunity.
- Parts of the Immune System Describes the organs and tissues of the immune system and the innate and adaptive immune systems and how they respond to pathogens.
- Development of the Immune System Describes the gestational development of the immune system as well as its status at birth and what that means for vaccines.
- How the Immune System Works Describes primary and memory immune responses as well as original antigenic sin and weakened immunity. This page also briefly addresses the effects of vitamins, complementary and alternative treatments, and medications on the immune system.
- What Happens When the Immune System Does Not Work Properly? Describes immune deficiencies, unnecessary or overzealous immune responses and autoimmunity, and provides examples of each.