• Question: recently we have had the cervical cancer jab i was just wondering why is doesnt make us ill if it is true that the virus that causes the cancer is injected into us

    Asked by sciencetube145 to Mariam, Jo, Gioia on 16 Jun 2010 in Categories: .
    • Photo: Joanna Watson

      Joanna Watson answered on 15 Jun 2010:

      The reason it doesn’t make you ill is because the jab doesn’t have the whole virus in it – just one tiny protein from the virus is enough to trick your immune system into protecting you from the real virus.

      There are some vaccines for other diseases that contain whole viruses, like the polio vaccine – but these viruses have always been killed or altered so that they don’t make you get the disease.

    • Photo: Gioia Cherubini

      Gioia Cherubini answered on 16 Jun 2010:

      What we call jab (not just for cervical cancer, there are lot of other kind of jabs), is an injection of the virus that provokes the disease in the first place. The reason why don’t get ill by getting this virus in the jab, is because the virus has been inactivated so that it can’t harm us anymore. However, this inactivated virus will still be good at inducing the formation of antibodies against it, so that if we get in touch with the real powerful virus, our antibodies are already ready to attack the virus, so we won’t get the disease.

    • Photo: Mariam Orme

      Mariam Orme answered on 16 Jun 2010:

      It’s not actually the virus that’s injected into you, it’s just some of the virus’s proteins. Your body makes antibodies against these proteins, and then if you ever encounter the virus, the antibodies will recognise it and deal with it.

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