Question

What is the difference between immunisation and vaccination?

Answer 1

The word “immunization” instead of “vaccination” is now pervasive in both medical and mainstream literature, creating a belief that they are one in the same. But, there is a big difference between the two.
Vaccines contain a dead or live but weakened germ that can cause a particular disease, like tetanus. When we are given a vaccine shot, our body immediately produces antibodies against the antigen or foreign body. It is at this point that most believe the body’s defense mechanism kicks in and immunity will occur in the event that the said antigen gains entry again into the body. But, this is not the case with all vaccines.
Immunization means to make someone immune to something. Vaccination, by contrast, according to Dorland’s Medical Dictionary, just means to inject “a suspension of attenuated or killed microorganisms…administered for prevention…or treatment of infectious disease.”
Vaccination does not guarantee immunity. Natural immunity happens only after one recovers from the actual disease. During the disease, the microorganism usually has to pass through many of the body’s natural immune defense systems—in the nose, throat, lungs, digestive tract and lymph tissue—before it reaches the bloodstream.