vaksinasjonen

Vaksinasjon, commonly known as vaccination, is a method of providing immunity to a particular infectious disease. It typically involves administering a vaccine, a biological preparation that provides active acquired immunity to a particular infectious disease. Vaccines generally contain an agent that resembles the disease-causing microorganism, and is often made up of weakened or killed forms of the microbe, its toxins, or one of its surface proteins. This agent stimulates the body's immune system to recognize the agent as a threat, destroy it, and keep a record of it. If the vaccinated person later encounters the actual disease-causing microorganism, the immune system is prepared to quickly recognize and destroy it.

The development of vaccines has been a cornerstone of modern public health, leading to the eradication or significant reduction of many devastating diseases such as smallpox, polio, and measles. The process of vaccination is generally safe, with most side effects being mild and temporary, such as soreness at the injection site or a low-grade fever. Serious adverse reactions are rare. Public health programs often involve widespread vaccination campaigns to achieve herd immunity, a form of indirect protection that occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population has become immune to an infection, thereby providing a measure of protection for individuals who are not immune. This is particularly important for vulnerable populations who cannot be vaccinated due to age, medical conditions, or weakened immune systems.