Passive immunity


Immunity produced by the transfer to one person of antibodies that were produced by another person. Protection from passive immunity diminishes in a relatively short time, usually a few weeks or months. For example, antibodies passed from the mother to the baby before birth confer passive immunity to the baby for the first 4-6 months of life.

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  • Passive smoking

    Inhalation of smoke that comes from someone else smoking. Passive smoking is associated with the same array of diseases as actual smoking, with an elevated risk of lung cancer and other diseases.

  • Passive-aggressive

    Pertaining to behavior in which feelings of aggression are expressed in passive ways as, for example, by stubbornness, sullenness, procrastination, or intentional inefficiency. The term passive-aggressive behavior was coined by military psychiatrists in a 1945 US War Department technical bulletin to describe soldiers who employed a mixture of passive resistance and grumbling compliance.

  • Passive-aggressive personality disorder

    A personality disorder characterized by passive-aggressive behavior. Passive-aggressive personality disorder is no longer recognized as a diagnosis by the American Psychiatric Association .

  • Pasteur Institute

    A non-profit private foundation, based in Paris, France, which contributes to the prevention and treatment of disease, primarily infectious diseases, through research, education, and public health activities. The Pasteur Institute was inaugurated on November 14th, 1888. It was created thanks to the success of an international fund to allow Louis Pasteur to expand vaccination against […]

  • Pasteur, Louis

    A French chemist and biologist who invented pasteurization, developed the germ theory, founded the field of bacteriology, and created the first vaccines against anthrax and rabies.


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