Dialysis Technician Practice Exam

What indicates you have had the vaccine?

1. Antigen

2. Antibody

3. Immunity

4. Reaction

The correct answer is: Antibody

Having antibodies in your bloodstream indicates that you have received a vaccine. Vaccines work by introducing a harmless component of a pathogen (like a weakened or inactivated virus or a piece of the pathogen, such as a protein) to the immune system. This process stimulates the immune system to produce specific antibodies that will recognize and combat the real pathogen in the future. These antibodies serve as markers that show your body has been trained to defend against the specific disease the vaccine targets. Therefore, a positive presence of antibodies serves as clear evidence that vaccination has occurred. While antigens refer to the components that provoke an immune response, and immunity is the body's ability to resist a particular infection due to the presence of those antibodies, these terms do not directly confirm vaccination status. A reaction may be indicative of how an individual’s body responds to the vaccine but does not serve as a definitive indicator that vaccinations have occurred.