Introduction

A person may become immune to a specific disease in several ways. For some illnesses, such as measles and chickenpox, having the disease usually leads to lifelong immunity to it. Vaccination is another way to become immune to a disease. Both ways of gaining immunity, either from having an illness or from vaccination, are examples of active immunity. Active immunity results when a person’s immune system works to produce antibodies and activate other immune cells to certain pathogens. If the person encounters that pathogen again, long-lasting immune cells specific to it will already be primed to fight it.

A different type of immunity, called passive immunity, results when a person is given someone else’s antibodies. When these antibodies are introduced into the person’s body, the “loaned” antibodies help prevent or fight certain infectious diseases. The protection offered by passive immunization is short-lived, usually lasting only a few weeks or months. But it helps protect right away.

Types of passive immunity

Natural: Infants benefit from passive immunity acquired when their mothers’ antibodies and pathogen-fighting white cells cross the placenta to reach the developing children, especially in the third trimester. A substance called colostrum, which an infant receives during nursing sessions in the first days after birth and before the mother begins producing “true” breast milk, is rich in antibodies and provides protection for the infant.

Artificial: Passive immunity can be induced artificially when antibodies are given as a medication to a nonimmune individual. These antibodies may come from the pooled and purified blood products of immune people or from non-human immune animals, such as horses. In fact, the earliest antibody-containing preparations used against infectious diseases came from horses, sheep, and rabbits.

Present impact of passive immunization

Today, patients may be treated with antibodies when they are ill with diphtheria or cytomegalovirus. Or, antibody treatment may be used as a preventive measure after exposure to a pathogen to try to stop illness from developing (such as with respiratory syncytial virus [RSV], measles, tetanus, hepatitis A, hepatitis B, rabies, or chickenpox).  Antibody treatment may not be used for routine cases of these diseases, but it may be beneficial to high-risk individuals, such as people with immune system deficiencies.

Advantages

• Passive immunization with preformed antibodies leads to prompt availability of large amounts of antibody.  It is thus quick acting, producing an immune response within hours or days, faster than a vaccine. 
• It helps to prevent or slow down the course of disease.
• It is beneficial to high-risk individuals, such as people with immune system deficiencies.

Disadvantages

• The protection offered by passive immunization is short-lived, usually lasting only a few weeks or months since it does not lead to the formation of long-lasting memory immune cells.
• In passive immunity it is possible to initiate hypersensitivity reactions if the antibody is from another species.
• Antibody treatment cannot be used for routine cases of diseases.
• Antibodies can be difficult and costly to produce.
• Many antibody treatments must be given via intravenous injection, which is a more time-consuming and potentially complicated procedure than the injection of a vaccine.

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