由無害的多種致病介質(zhì)如病毒或細(xì)菌或來自這些介質(zhì)的蛋白質(zhì)組成的生物制品。當(dāng)注入人體時(shí)，介質(zhì)本身或其蛋白質(zhì)亞基會(huì)引發(fā)很強(qiáng)的免疫反應(yīng)從而避免對(duì)同種介質(zhì)的進(jìn)一步感染。疫苗模仿自然的感染引發(fā)強(qiáng)大的免疫反應(yīng)而不會(huì)造成疾病。疫苗中使用的蛋白質(zhì)通常在致病介質(zhì)表面找到并可以在實(shí)驗(yàn)室生成。完整的細(xì)菌或病毒可以通過熱和輻射處理變得無害，也可以通過生物處理使其活性減弱變成活的無害的介質(zhì)。這樣的例子包括不能在體溫下生長的流感病毒和在病人體內(nèi)不能感染神經(jīng)的小兒麻痹癥疫苗。

Biological preparations composed either of a harmless variety of a disease-causing agent such as a virus or bacteria, or of proteins derived from such an agent. When injected into humans, the agent itself or its protein subunits, will elicit a strong immune response, which will be protective against further infection from that agent. The vaccine “mimics” a natural infection to elicit a strong immune response, but causes no disease. The proteins used in vaccines are usually found on the surface of the disease-causing agents and can be generated in the laboratory. Intact bacteria or viruses can be rendered harmless by heat- or radiation- mediated killing, or can be “attenuated” (inactivated) by biomanipulation to produce a live but harmless version of the agent. Examples of such “attenuated” or “live vaccines” include influenza virus that does not grow at body temperature and polio vaccine in which the virus cannot infect neurons but remains in the gut of the patient.