Biology 9700 · AS & A Level · Antibodies and vaccination
Antibodies and vaccination — practice question
Measles is an infectious disease against which vaccines have been produced. The vaccine that is commonly used contains an attenuated, or weakened, form of the virus. The measles vaccine is usually given to children at about one year of age, with a booster dose when they are around four years old.
(a)[5]
Explain how this vaccine is able to confer long-term immunity against measles.
(b)[4]
Describe the patterns in Fig. 3.1 from 1980 to 1990 and from 1990 to 2002.
(c)[2]
The measles virus has a distinctive surface protein named MV-H, which can attach to a protein called CD-46 on the surface of human cells. This lets the measles virus infect these cells. Suggest how the two proteins, MV-H and CD-46, can bind to one another.
Worked solution & mark scheme
This 11-mark question has a full step-by-step worked solution and mark scheme. One marking point: “Use of attenuated virus as a vaccine” …