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The Story of Vaccines

How we taught the body to fight back

Ever wonder how your body learns to beat tiny germs before they even make you sick?

1/5
  1. Long Ago

    First Clues

    People noticed that catching a sickness once often protected you from getting it again. Doctors in ancient China used safe bits of germs to help train people's bodies!

The big idea

Vaccines give your body a safe practice run so it knows how to defeat real germs!

Fun facts

  • โœจ The word vaccine comes from 'vacca', which means cow in Latin!
  • โœจ Your body creates special 'memory cells' so it remembers every germ it trained against.
  • โœจ Vaccines have saved more human lives than almost any other invention in history!

Science words

  • Immune System โ€” Your body's built-in superhero team that fights off germs.
  • Vaccine โ€” A safe practice tool that teaches your body how to fight a specific germ.
  • Antibody โ€” A tiny protein defender your body makes to lock onto germs.