Because killed vaccines don t multiply in your body, you require a number of injections to produce a high enough level of immunisation to protect fully against the disease. This produces a subunit vaccine. The Haemophilus influenza type b and the new whooping cough vaccine are prepared in this way. These vaccines are examples of acellular vaccines because they don t contain whole cells of the pathogen. Adjuvants Most killed vaccines do not work unless an adjuvant is added.
Adjuvants strengthen the immune response in some way.
Most adjuvants currently used are compounds containing aluminium. New vaccines Medical researchers continue to pursue new methods of producing vaccines, particularly using biotechnology and genetic engineering techniques. These techniques can eliminate the need to produce large quantities of the microorganism in order to make a vaccine. External sites are not endorsed by the Australian Academy of Science. The Australian Foundation for Science and the Science and Technology Awareness Program of the Commonwealth Department of Industry, Science and Resources are also supporters of Nova .