What type of vaccine is the hepatitis A vaccine?

The hepatitis A vaccine is classified as an inactivated vaccine. This type of vaccine is made from pathogens that have been killed or inactivated so that they cannot cause disease. Specifically, the hepatitis A vaccine utilizes inactivated hepatitis A virus, which stimulates the immune system to produce a protective response without risking disease development.

Inactivated vaccines are effective in inducing humoral immunity, which helps in producing antibodies against the pathogen in question, in this case, the hepatitis A virus. This mechanism allows individuals who receive the vaccine to gain immunity and protection against potential hepatitis A infection in the future.

The other types of vaccines mentioned, such as live attenuated, recombinant, and subunit vaccines, differ in their composition and mechanism of action. Live attenuated vaccines contain live but weakened forms of the virus, recombinant vaccines involve genetically engineered organisms to produce antigens, and subunit vaccines consist of only a part of the pathogen—often the proteins that elicit an immune response. However, none of these classifications apply to the hepatitis A vaccine, which is specifically designed as an inactivated vaccine.