A 6-year-old male is brought to his pediatrician's office with chickenpox. He has had symptoms for one week, and his mother is concerned about the patient's 8-year-old sister because she had a long, painful chickenpox infection 2 years prior. Of note, the patient was not vaccinated against chickenpox because his parents did not think it was a serious enough virus to warrant the pain of the injection.
-If the patient's mother had previously vaccinated her son against chickenpox,what form of immunity would he have had against the virus?

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

If the patient had been vaccinated against chickenpox, he would have had active artificial immunity, which is acquired through vaccination. This means that his immune system produced antibodies in response to the vaccine, providing protection against the virus. Active natural immunity is acquired through natural exposure to the virus, and passive immunity is acquired through transfer of pre-formed antibodies (either naturally, from the mother to the fetus, or artificially, via injection of antibodies).

A 6-Year-Old Male Is Brought to His Pediatrician's Office with Chickenpox