![](/olcweb/styles/shared/spacer.gif) | ![](/sites/dl/free/0072320427/title/cover_image.JPG) Foundations in Microbiology, 4/e Kathleen Park Talaro,
Pasadena City College Arthur Talaro
Immunization and Immune Assays
Chapter Overview- Discoveries in basic immune function have created powerful medical tools to artificially induce protective immunities and to determine the status of the immune system.
- Immunization may be administered by means of passive and active methods.
- Passive immunity is acquired by infusing antiserum taken from other patients’ blood that contains high levels of protective antibodies. This form of immunotherapy is short-lived.
- Active methods involve administering a vaccine against an infectious agent that may be encountered in the future. This form of protection provides a longer-lived immunity.
- Vaccines contain some form of microbial antigen that has been altered so that it stimulates a protective immune response without causing the disease.
- Vaccines can be made from whole dead or live cells and viruses, parts of cells or viruses, or by recombinant DNA techniques.
- Reactions between antibodies and antigens provide specific and sensitive tests that can be used in diagnosis of disease and identification of pathogens.
- Serology involves the testing of a patient’s blood serum for antibodies that can indicate a current or past infection and the degree of immunity.
- Tests that produce visible interactions of antibodies and antigens include agglutination, precipitation, and complement fixation.
- Assays can be used to separate antigens and antibodies and visualize them with radioactivity or fluorescence. These include immunoelectrophoresis, the Western blot, and direct and indirect immunoassays.
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