"vaccine"

[Dave Wilton]

The original vaccine, the one for smallpox, has long been used to infer
immunity on those already exposed to the disease in addition to the use as a
preventive measure. Other vaccines are also used in this fashion, so this is
nothing new.

The key technical point seems to be that a vaccine stimulates an immune
response, not whether it is used as a preventive or treatment measure.


-----Original Message-----
From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On Behalf Of
Charles Doyle
Sent: Saturday, March 31, 2007 8:22 AM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Subject: "vaccine"

Two nights ago, the network news reported a medical breakthrough:
"vaccination" against prostate cancer.  However, the new "vaccine" is
administered only to sufferers from metastasized prostate cancer, and the
hoped-for result is some degree of remission.


I had always thought of a vaccination as a PREVENTIVE regimen; certainly
that is the traditional, Pasteurized sense.  It is hard to tell from the OED
whether the terms "vaccinate," "vaccination," and "vaccine" have been used
in reference to the TREATMENT of diseases in their advanced states (the
OED's entries for the terms circularly employ each other!).

A "draft addition" to the OED entry for "vaccine" gives the term as applied
(since the 1980s) to computer programs that both prevent viral infections
and remove viruses from afflicted machines. I wonder if that widespread use
of "vaccine" and its cognates has broadened the medical application of the
terms?

--Charlie
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