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Vaccines work by introducing an attenuated strain of the pathogen (or alternatively the antigens that are normally present on the pathogens surface) into the body, whereupon the body mounts an immune response. As this will (hopefully) be the first time that the body has encountered the antigens on the pseudo-pathogen's surface, the response is called the ...

Duration of efficacy is typically determined by tracking the antibody titers of a cohort of subjects who have gotten the vaccine, and estimating based on the trajectory of those titers where they will eventually cross the threshold to the point where the vaccine no longer confers immune resistance. These estimates do get revised and estimated as time goes ...

MBQ and Rory M have already given decent answers on the "hows" of how the vaccine memory is formed. Now, for some twists: There are three (general) types of vaccine, all of which are meant to make your body "think" its being infected and provoke an immune response, while at the same time not causing active infection. They are: Live attenuated. These ...

The goal of the vaccine is to provoke an immune answer, therefore some degree of inflammation is expected in order for the vaccine to work. Since you get the shot intramuscularily, intradermally or subcutaneously, it is local, and the inflammation does not spread. The reason why your whole arm seems to hurt (rather than the place where the vaccine was ...

Ovalbumin is frequently used in immunology to induce an immune response (see some publications about mice and ovalbumin here. You usually inject it together with an adjuvans to enhance the reaction. The factors that must be taken into account for its maintainance are the same as for the other antigens, so you should boost this "vaccination" from time to ...