| Term | Definition |
| RECOMBINANT | Subunit vaccines that are produced by genetic engineering. |
| VACCINATION | Immunization. |
| IMMUNIZATION | Refers to the administration of any antigenic inoculum. |
| COMPLEMENT FIXATION | The process in which complement combines with an antigen-antibody complex. |
| IMMUNOTOXIN | A monoclonal antibody that has been combined with a toxin. |
| MONOCLONAL ANTIBODY | Product of a hybridoma. |
| HERD IMMUNITY | Protection against illness provided to a population when a pathogen cannot spread because the majority of the group are resisteant to the pathogen. |
| ATTENUATED | A live, but weakened, microbe. |
| SUBUNIT | Vaccines that only use antigenic fragments of a microorganism. |
| ENZYME LINKED IMMUNOSORBENT ASSAY | ELISA. |
| VACCINE | A suspension of organisms or fractions of organisms that is used to induce immunity. |
| ADJUVANTS | Chemicals added to vaccines to improve the effectiveness of antigens. |
| NEUTRALIZATION | An antigen-antibody reaction in which the harmful effects of a bacterial exotoxin or virus are blocked by antibodies. |
| IMMUNODIFFUSION | These tests are precipitation reactions carried out in an agar medium. |
| TOXOIDS | Inactivated toxins. |
| AGGLUTINATION | Involve the use of IgG or IgM to form large, interlocking aggregates (lattices) with particulate antigens. |
| CONJUGATED | Vaccines made by combining a weak immunogen with a protein. |
| ACELLULAR | Also known as a subunit vaccine. |
| TITER | The concentration of serum antibody. |
| WHOLE AGENT | A vaccine that uses an intact organism. |
| HEMAGGLUTINATION | Agglutination reaction involving the clumping of red blood cells. |
| PRECIPITATION REACTIONS | Involve the use of IgG or IgM to form large, interlocking aggregates (lattices) with soluble antigens. |
| VARIOLATION | A crude method of vaccination using infected material from a patient. |
| INACTIVATED | Microbes that have been killed by heat or chemical methods. |
| SEROCONVERSION | A change in a person's response to an antigen in a serological test. |
| HYBRIDOMA | Made by combining a myeloma and a B cell. |
| FLUORESCENT ANTIBODY | These techniques combine fluorescent dyes with antibodies to detect the presence of specific antibodies in the serum or the presence of microorganisms. |
