Name: ______Date: ______Period: ______
Guided Reading 4
“The Development and Use of Vaccines”
Answer all questions with full sentences.
A. Make a PREDICTION about what the article is about. Do not just restate the title. ______
B. ANNOTATE the article as you read. Make sure that you:
o Write at least three questions in the margins that you wished the author answered.
o Circle three new words. Do not circle names of things or people.
o Star three important main ideas.
o Draw an arrow to one supporting detail for each of the main ideas.
C. EVALUATE the article when you finish reading. What is the PURPOSE or GOAL of the article? Was the article an evaluative, persuasive, narrative, or informative? ______
D. Answer the following questions after you read.
What did Dr. Edward Jenner use to vaccinate people against smallpox? / 3. / Question three is a content question.
What are the biological defenders that interact and eventually kill invading germs?
a. the ancient mixture handed down to
him by his great grandfather
b. the milk from a cow
c. the pus from people with cowpox
d. the blood of people with smallpox / a. Vaccines
b. Antibodies
c. T-cells
d. Immunity Cells
2. / Question two is an inference question.
Which of the following is NOT considered a benefit to widespread vaccinations? / 4. / Question four is a main idea question.
What do vaccines contain?
a. saves money long term
b. decreases the death rate, especially for
young children and babies
c. people may experience adverse effects
d. possibility of eliminating the disease / a. the blood of people that died from that
illness
b. antibiotics
c. instructions on how to kill a virus
d. a weakened or dead form of the virus
Question five is an open-ended reflection/opinion question. Be sure to read all of the requirements of the question. For example, if the question asks for two examples of supporting details from the text, be sure to give two. Write your answer in the space provided.
5. Currently, smallpox does not exist in the human population. However, two cultures exist in guarded laboratories in the United States and Russia. Write a short essay in which you discuss whether you think these cultures should be kept or destroyed.
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“The Development and Use of Vaccines”
Source: Issues and Decisions, Pearson Education, Inc.
Contributions from: Center for Disease Control (CDC), U.S. Department of Health, and IFPMA
______
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Development of the Smallpox Vaccine
Smallpox was once the most dangerous disease in the world. It killed more people than cholera. Smallpox was spread over a larger geographical area than the bubonic plague, and it remained incurable for longer than yellow fever.
Smallpox is a virus that affected mostly children. It was transmitted through coughing, sneezing, and even touching. Victims developed such symptoms as chills, fever, and a rash. As many as 40 percent of smallpox victims died, and those who did not were often left blind or permanently scarred by the rash.
In 1796, an English surgeon named Edward Jenner decided to test a hypothesis about smallpox. He had heard that farmers became immune to smallpox after they experienced a mild condition called cowpox. Since the farmers worked with cattle, they were often exposed to cowpox, which is spread among cattle.
Jenner tested his immunity hypothesis by taking samples of pus from the cowpox rash and applying it into scratches on a healthy person’s arm. Later, he injected the same material into people’s skin. Jenner’s methods were controversial at the time, and they remained controversial for decades after he began to inoculate people. However, after the success of his project, his methods were copied in different smallpox-infected areas of the world. As more people were inoculated, the number of smallpox cases declined rapidly.
In 1967, the World Health Organization (WHO) started a campaign to end smallpox all over the world. WHO teams were sent to countries where no one had ever received smallpox vaccines, and they administered a modern form of Jenner’s inoculation. In 1978, the last known case of smallpox was documented in Somalia. This led to a declaration in 1980 by WHO that the disease had been completely eradicated from the human population.
How Vaccines Work
A vaccine contains a killed or weakened part of a germ that is responsible for infection. Because the germ has been killed or weakened before it is used to make the vaccine, it can not make the person sick. When a person receives a vaccine, the body reacts by making protective substances called "antibodies". The antibodies are the body's defenders because they help to kill off the germs that enter the body. In other words, vaccines expose people safely to germs, so that they can become protected from a disease but not come down with the disease.
The Controversy Over Vaccines
Many people are afraid or uncertain whether vaccines are safe, but vaccines are held to the highest standard of safety. The United States currently has the safest, most effective vaccine supply in history. Years of testing are required by law before a vaccine can be licensed. Once in use, vaccines are continually monitored for safety and efficacy.
Some vaccinations have become mandatory in order for children to attend school and this was done to ensure the safety of all. There is still much debate over whether vaccinating a child should be the parents’ choice rather than a requirement. Immunizations, like any medication, can cause adverse events. However, a decision not to immunize a child also involves risk. It is a decision to put the child and others who come into contact with him or her at risk of contracting a disease that could be dangerous or deadly. Consider measles. One out of 30 children with measles develops pneumonia. For every 1,000 children who get the disease, one or two will die from it. Thanks to vaccines, we have few cases of measles in the U.S. today. However, the disease is extremely contagious, and each year dozens of cases are imported from abroad into the U.S., threatening the health of people who have not been vaccinated and those for whom the vaccine was not effective.
Economic Incentives to Encourage the Use of Vaccines
In many developed and middle income countries, vaccines have repeatedly been shown to be cost effective because of their success in preventing diseases, affordability and typically limited use in a person’s lifetime, compared to costs of treating diseases. More recently, analyses of cost effectiveness have been performed in a number of developing countries with similar results. For example, a recent study in Kenya concluded that the vaccine for Hib (a aggressive form of influenza) is a highly cost-effective intervention, saving the nation more than $870,000 in treatment costs for children born in 2004.
Vaccines also have been shown to improve economic growth by protecting individuals from the long-term effects of an illness on their physical, emotional, and cognitive development. Invasive Hib disease, for example, can cause brain damage and developmental delays, which can have a negative impact on a child’s life prospects. By introducing the vaccine, researchers estimate that 28,000 cases of pneumonia and meningitis, 5,000 deaths and 1,000 severe neurological complications have been prevented among children each year in Uganda alone.
Illnesses that can be Prevented Because of Vaccines
· Shingles (Herpes Zoster)
· Chickenpox (Varicella)
· German Measles (Rubella)
· Measles (Rubeola)
· Polio
· Tetanus
· Mumps
· Human Papilloma Virus (HPV)
· Diphtheria
· Hepatitis
· Whooping Cough (Pertussis)
· Rabies
· Rotavirus
· Meningococcal Meningitis
Diagram of a Common Virus
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