TAB Vaccine Full Form

What is the full form of TAB Vaccine?

TAB stands for Typhoid-paratyphoid A and B, which is a vaccine used for the treatment of typhoid. A vaccine is a biological substance injected into the body, which provides active acquired immunity to fight a specific disease.

Typhoid

Typhoid, also called typhoid fever, is an infectious disease caused by the bacterium Salmonella typhi. The most common symptom is fever, starting from mild to high fever (nearly 104.9 oF), followed by headache, weakness, sweating, loss of appetite, weight loss, etc.

It is caused due to gastrointestinal infection by the bacterium Salmonella typhi. It affects the patient for 1-2 weeks. The treatment includes antibiotics, hydration, surgery in extreme cases, and quarantine (not followed nowadays).

Preventive measures include the consumption of clean food and water, hygienic surroundings, and frequent handwashing and cleaning to prevent germs. A vaccine can also be taken as a preventive measure.

Vaccine

A vaccine is a biologically prepared substance that provides active acquired immunity towards a specific disease. The first vaccine to be developed against disease is the smallpox vaccine. The smallpox vaccine prevents smallpox, an infectious disease caused by the smallpox virus.

A vaccine contains inactivated or heat-killed disease-causing agents such that when a person is injected with the vaccine, the immune system identifies the pathogen and destroys it. In this way, the immune system also remembers the pathogen so that it can generate an appropriate response in the future.

TAB Vaccine

TAB vaccine (typhoid-paratyphoid A and B vaccine) is a combined vaccine to develop immunity against typhoid, paratyphoid A, and paratyphoid B. TAB vaccine contains heat-killed Salmonella typhi and S. paratyphi A and B bacterial cells in a specific chemical formulation that develops immunity against diseases.

Though this vaccine is useful, regular consumption may result in a high fever. Thus, controlled use is recommended in a way that typhoid can be prevented. Presently, it is not commercially available due to its multivalent characteristic. It is replaced by the monovalent Salmonella typhi vaccine, which turned out to be more effective.

Other Typhoid Vaccines

There are other commercially available vaccines that develop immunity against typhoid. These are typhoid conjugate vaccine (TCV), Ty21a, and Vi capsular polysaccharide vaccine (ViPS), with an efficiency of 30-70% in the first two years.

One of the most effective vaccines in children is the Vi-rEPA vaccine. The Vi-rEPA vaccine along with Ty21a and Vi capsular polysaccharide vaccine (ViPS), turned out to be highly effective in reducing fever with lesser side effects.