Definitions
Vaccinations in general can be divided into active and passive vaccinations. Active vaccinations stimulate the immune system to build up immunity against certain pathogens. Passive vaccinations, on the other hand, become necessary when there is a tight time frame to wait for the immune response to an active vaccine.
In this case, immune system components, so-called antibodies, are administered directly to the affected person to prevent an acute course of the disease. The active vaccination described above can be carried out with live and dead vaccines. Live vaccines contain reproducible but attenuated pathogens, which only stimulate the immune system in order to be able to give an adequate response to the pathogen in case of contact.
A single vaccination already offers protection in this case. The second vaccination serves to detect so-called vaccination failures, people in whom the immune system does not generate sufficient immunity after a vaccination. This topic might be of interest to you: Side effects of vaccination
Differences to inactivated vaccine
Dead vaccines, as part of active vaccination, on the other hand, contain only components of pathogens or dead, non reproducible pathogens, which is the main difference. Furthermore, in order to achieve a long lasting protection, several vaccinations have to be carried out to ensure a complete vaccination protection. This is usually done in several partial and booster vaccinations.
In general, dead vaccines are better tolerated and cause fewer side effects than attenuated pathogens in a live vaccination. The combination of inactivated vaccines without a specific time interval is usually possible and safe. The vaccination is administered into the large deltoid muscle of the upper arm.
If vaccination reactions occur, these are usually irritations at the injection site, but slight visible reactions of the body to the vaccination are also possible in one in a hundred cases. These usually occur in the first 72 hours after vaccination and vary depending on the patient and the vaccine and often mean mild flu-like symptoms. Examples of dead vaccines are hepatitis A and B, rabies, polio, TBE, whooping cough, cholera, tetanus and diphtheria, among others.
