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Vaccination
The process of protecting against disease by introducing dead or otherwise weakened infectious organisms (known as antigens) into the body. The weakened infectious organisms causes the body’s immune (defense) system to produce antibodies and memory cells. Antibodies are types of proteins that help stop future infections by the same antigen. Memory cells are types of white blood cells that remain in the body in a resting state after many of the other white blood cells (such as T cells and B cells) have died. White blood cells are cells that help protect the body against disease by fighting infectious organisms. Memory cells “remember" antigens they were exposed to in the past so they can deal with them in a quicker and stronger way when exposed to them in the future.

Since the infectious organisms introduced to the body through vaccination are weakened, and thus presented to the body in an altered state, they will not actually cause disease. By preparing the body with a stock of antibodies and memory cells against a specific disease, vaccination helps defeat the illness and prevent infection if one if exposed to the actual bacteria or virus in the future. When this process is successful for a specific disease, the person is said to be immune to that disease. The process of achieving immunity is referred to as immunization. The preparation of antigens injected into the body is known as a vaccine.

Vaccination comes from the Latin word "vaccinus" meaning "relating to a cow." The reason for this word origin is that the first vaccine (the cowpox virus) was obtained from cows. The cowpox virus was a relatively benign (mild) virus that was discovered to lead to immunity to smallpox, a type of deadly and highly contagious disease.

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