"vaccine"

[Charles Doyle]

Dave, that's a lucid statement of how vaccination works. I was just giving my impression that traditionally the WORDS referring to vaccination have not been used (by the general public, at least) for treatments applied to advanced stages of a disease.

Surveying the dictionaries that happen to lie nearby: ". . . in order to prevent" (Webster"s New World Dictionary, "College Edition," 2nd ed., 1984; "vaccinate"). ". . . to prevent a disease" (Random House Webster's College Dictionary, 1996; "vaccine"). ". . . in order to protect against" (American Heritage Dictionary, New College Edition, 1981; "vaccination"). ". . . to produce or artificially increase immunity" (Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary, 1983; "vaccine").

Some of those definitions sound less exclusively "preventive" than others. Certainly vaccination is routine not only prior to exposure but also shortly after exposure--though generally, still, before symptoms of the full-blown disease appear?

--Charlie
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---- Original message ----
>Date: Sun, 1 Apr 2007 07:28:40 -0700
>From: Dave Wilton <dave at WILTON.NET>
>Subject: Re: "vaccine"
>
>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.
>
>

>Charles Doyle
>Sent: Saturday, March 31, 2007 8:22 AM
>
>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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