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10/18/2020

Topic Reading-Vol.3112-10/18/2020

Dear MEL Topic Readers,

Why older people are harder to vaccinate

A vaccine is a biological preparation that provides active acquired immunity to a particular infectious disease. Though vaccination is the most effective method of preventing infectious diseases, it doesn’t cure or ease the symptoms of the disease. Also, while vaccination reduces diseases, it doesn’t do much to reduce transmission, just like influenza vaccines. Therefore, those who are more vulnerable to the disease should be vaccinated first, in particular, older people whose immune systems have weakened. Even though older people have a better immune memory because of the past encounters with various viruses, they have no memory of a novel virus, like coronavirus.

Younger people need to be aware of the risks to transmit the virus to older people while they experience no or very little symptoms.

Enjoy reading the article and learn about what vaccine and immune systems are and how they work.

https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20201013-why-older-people-are-harder-to-vaccinate

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