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Vaccination and memory cells

Structure and functions in living organisms · Blood and the immune system · note 3 of 4

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Vaccination and memory cellsSpec 2.63B

After an infection, some lymphocytes stay in the blood as memory cells. Vaccination uses this to protect a person before they meet the pathogen.

  1. A person is given a vaccine: a harmless form of the pathogen, such as a dead or weakened one, with its antigens still present.
  2. The antigens trigger lymphocytes to release antibodies. The person does not become ill.
  3. The immune system makes memory cells, which stay in the body.
  4. If the live pathogen enters later, the memory cells recognise it. Antibody production happens sooner, faster and in greater quantity.
  5. The pathogen is destroyed before it can make the person ill.
Graph of antibody concentration in the blood against time, showing a small, slow primary response after the first exposure to an antigen and a much faster, higher secondary response after the second exposure to the same antigen. (opens full size in a new tab)
Memory cells make the second response sooner, faster and in greater quantity than the first.
Common mistake:

A vaccine does not put antibodies into the body. It makes your own body produce antibodies and memory cells.