Question

A heavily bleeding and bruised road accident victim was brought to a nursing home. The doctor immediately gave him an injection to protect him against a deadly disease.

1. Write what did the doctor inject into the patient’s body.
2. How do you think this injection would protect the patient against the disease?
3. Name the disease against which this injection was given and the kind of immunity it provides.

Answer 1

1. The doctor injected the antitoxin serum, specifically human tetanus immunoglobulin injection, into the patient’s body.
2. This injection contains preformed antibodies against the tetanus toxin. Since these antibodies are already prepared in the serum, they provide immediate protection by neutralizing the toxin produced by the tetanus-causing bacteria, preventing the disease from developing.
3. The disease against which this injection was given is tetanus (also known as lockjaw), caused by the bacterium Clostridium tetani. The injection provides artificial passive immunity to the patient because it involves the direct transfer of antibodies, rather than the patient's body producing them after exposure to an antigen.