Misplaced Pages

#370629

167-710: The Ethics Council Act (Act on the Establishment of the German Ethics Council, in German : Gesetz zur Einrichtung des Deutschen Ethikrats (Ethikratgesetz – EthRG)), that entered into force on 1 August 2007 , forms the basis for its activities. Half of the 26 members are proposed by the Federal Government , while the other half of the 26 members is proposed by the Bundestag . The members of

334-465: A de facto official language of Namibia after the end of German colonial rule alongside English and Afrikaans , and had de jure co-official status from 1984 until its independence from South Africa in 1990. However, the Namibian government perceived Afrikaans and German as symbols of apartheid and colonialism, and decided English would be the sole official language upon independence, stating that it

501-402: A second language , and 75–100   million as a foreign language . This would imply the existence of approximately 175–220   million German speakers worldwide. German sociolinguist Ulrich Ammon estimated a number of 289 million German foreign language speakers without clarifying the criteria by which he classified a speaker. As of 2012 , about 90   million people, or 16% of

668-612: A "commonly used" language and the Pan South African Language Board is obligated to promote and ensure respect for it. Cameroon was also a colony of the German Empire from the same period (1884 to 1916). However, German was replaced by French and English, the languages of the two successor colonial powers, after its loss in World War I . Nevertheless, since the 21st century, German has become

835-459: A 10–11-year study of 657,461 children found that the MMR vaccine does not cause autism and actually reduced the risk of autism by seven percent. Beside the active vaccine itself, the following excipients and residual manufacturing compounds are present or may be present in vaccine preparations: Various fairly standardized abbreviations for vaccine names have developed, although the standardization

1002-468: A National Action Plan for dementia. The need for care of people with dementia should be reviewed by taking adequate account of their potential of self-determination. Outpatient communal housing and residential communities for persons with dementia should be expanded and the effort of caring family members more widely recognized as well as financially supported. The principles of the UN Convention on

1169-435: A broad immune response. Although most attenuated vaccines are viral, some are bacterial in nature. Examples include the viral diseases yellow fever , measles , mumps , and rubella , and the bacterial disease typhoid . The live Mycobacterium tuberculosis vaccine developed by Calmette and Guérin is not made of a contagious strain but contains a virulently modified strain called " BCG " used to elicit an immune response to

1336-451: A call for an application moratorium, but also the agreement that the human germline is not categorically inviolable . On many issues, however, there are different positions. The research and development of robotic systems for home and in-patient care has received considerable public funding over the last couple of years. Political justification for this policy derives from urgent infrastructural, personnel and financial problems resulting from

1503-578: A challenge for hospitals (2014). Further formats include: conferences that take place annually in autumn and are organised at different locations, for example in Erfurt in 2023 on the topic of „Lost in “Metaverse’’? On the Intertwining of Real and Digital Worlds“; hearings with experts, usually in the course of preparing Opinions; online events , for example in December 2023 on the topic of „AI in

1670-566: A complete clinical cycle of development and trials proves the vaccine is safe and has long-term effectiveness, following scientific review by a multinational or national regulatory organization, such as the European Medicines Agency (EMA) or the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Upon developing countries adopting WHO guidelines for vaccine development and licensure, each country has its own responsibility to issue

1837-416: A disease-causing microorganism and is often made from weakened or killed forms of the microbe, its toxins, or one of its surface proteins. The agent stimulates the body's immune system to recognize the agent as a threat, destroy it, and recognize further and destroy any of the microorganisms associated with that agent that it may encounter in the future. Vaccines can be prophylactic (to prevent or alleviate

SECTION 10

#1732791890371

2004-437: A divorce or sperm donation for example. The evaluation is based on the weighing between clashing fundamental values, particularly how the right of sexual autonomy relates to the obligation to protect family structures. Concerning this matter, the council could not find an unambiguous consensus: the majority would weigh the fundamental right of sexual autonomy higher, while the minority sees the protection of family as an entity as

2171-658: A dual function as a forum for dialogue and an advisory body. In its function as an ethical dialogue forum, the German Ethics Council is intended, in accordance with its legal basis, to bring together specialist scientific discourses and to promote the debate in society, particularly through public events. In its function as a bioethical advisory body, the German Ethics Council has the task of drawing up statements and recommendations for political or legislative action. The Council ensures cooperation with other ethics bodies at national and international level. The German Ethics Council acts either on its own initiative or mandated by

2338-415: A given immune reaction. In some cases vaccines may result in partial immune protection (in which immunity is less than 100% effective but still reduces risk of infection) or in temporary immune protection (in which immunity wanes over time) rather than full or permanent immunity. They can still raise the reinfection threshold for the population as a whole and make a substantial impact. They can also mitigate

2505-559: A greater need for regularity in written conventions. While the major changes of the MHG period were socio-cultural, High German was still undergoing significant linguistic changes in syntax, phonetics, and morphology as well (e.g. diphthongization of certain vowel sounds: hus (OHG & MHG "house") → haus (regionally in later MHG)→ Haus (NHG), and weakening of unstressed short vowels to schwa [ə]: taga (OHG "days")→ tage (MHG)). A great wealth of texts survives from

2672-507: A national licensure, and to manage, deploy, and monitor the vaccine throughout its use in each nation. Building trust and acceptance of a licensed vaccine among the public is a task of communication by governments and healthcare personnel to ensure a vaccination campaign proceeds smoothly, saves lives, and enables economic recovery. When a vaccine is licensed, it will initially be in limited supply due to variable manufacturing, distribution, and logistical factors, requiring an allocation plan for

2839-458: A native tongue today, mostly descendants of German colonial settlers . The period of German colonialism in Namibia also led to the evolution of a Standard German-based pidgin language called " Namibian Black German ", which became a second language for parts of the indigenous population. Although it is nearly extinct today, some older Namibians still have some knowledge of it. German remained

3006-534: A pandemic. The Council develops important ethical criteria for complex decisions and presents recommendations for weighing goods in the context of pandemics. The German version of the Opinion "Suicide – Responsibility, Prevention and Autonomy" has been published on 22 September 2022. The German Ethics Council illustrates the scope and complexity of phenomena related to suicidality, defines more precisely preconditions for fully autonomous suicide decisions, and highlights

3173-496: A particular way and ensure a variety of ethical approaches and a pluralist spectrum of opinions. The members are appointed for a period of four years. A one-time reappointment is possible. If a member resigns prematurely, a new member is appointed for four years. The President of the German Bundestag, Wolfgang Schäuble , has appointed 21 members to the German Ethics Council as of 30 April 2020. Several members had reached

3340-455: A person threatens to seriously harm themself, coercive measures can serve a person's welfare. Nevertheless, every instance of such "benevolent coercion" represents a serious infringement of the fundamental rights of the person concerned and is therefore in particular need of legal and ethical justification. Firstly, the Opinion is indented to raise public awareness of the problems and complexities around benevolent coercion. Secondly, it aims to draw

3507-696: A popular foreign language among pupils and students, with 300,000 people learning or speaking German in Cameroon in 2010 and over 230,000 in 2020. Today Cameroon is one of the African countries outside Namibia with the highest number of people learning German. In the United States, German is the fifth most spoken language in terms of native and second language speakers after English, Spanish , French , and Chinese (with figures for Cantonese and Mandarin combined), with over 1 million total speakers. In

SECTION 20

#1732791890371

3674-399: A priority and wants to uphold the prohibition of incest. An Opinion, published 24 February 2015, addresses the ethical and legal aspects concerning brain death and their implications regarding organ donation . Particularly, it deals with the questions whether brain death is a convincing criterion for a person's death and whether brain death should be considered as a sufficient condition for

3841-483: A result, the surviving texts are written in highly disparate regional dialects and exhibit significant Latin influence, particularly in vocabulary. At this point monasteries, where most written works were produced, were dominated by Latin, and German saw only occasional use in official and ecclesiastical writing. While there is no complete agreement over the dates of the Middle High German (MHG) period, it

4008-530: A series of public evening events called “ Bioethics Forum” and its annual meeting – both taking place in Berlin – the council also organises public events outside of Berlin. Generally, the council meets once a month; meetings are open to the public. In addition to these plenary sessions , the work on content is mainly carried out in working groups which are formed by decision of the plenary session on specific topics and meet at irregular intervals. The work of

4175-400: A strong immune response. When two or more vaccines are mixed in the same formulation, the two vaccines can interfere. This most frequently occurs with live attenuated vaccines, where one of the vaccine components is more robust than the others and suppresses the growth and immune response to the other components. This phenomenon was first noted in the trivalent Sabin polio vaccine , where

4342-717: Is a West Germanic language in the Indo-European language family , mainly spoken in Western and Central Europe . It is the most spoken native language within the European Union . It is the most widely spoken and official (or co-official) language in Germany , Austria , Switzerland , Liechtenstein , and the Italian autonomous province of South Tyrol . It is also an official language of Luxembourg , Belgium and

4509-549: Is a novel type of vaccine which is composed of the nucleic acid RNA, packaged within a vector such as lipid nanoparticles . Among the COVID-19 vaccines are a number of RNA vaccines to combat the COVID-19 pandemic and some have been approved or have received emergency use authorization in some countries. For example, the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine and Moderna mRNA vaccine are approved for use in adults and children in

4676-601: Is a recognized minority language in the following countries: In France, the High German varieties of Alsatian and Moselle Franconian are identified as " regional languages ", but the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages of 1998 has not yet been ratified by the government. Namibia also was a colony of the German Empire, from 1884 to 1915. About 30,000 people still speak German as

4843-612: Is also notable for its broad spectrum of dialects , with many varieties existing in Europe and other parts of the world. Some of these non-standard varieties have become recognized and protected by regional or national governments. Since 2004, heads of state of the German-speaking countries have met every year, and the Council for German Orthography has been the main international body regulating German orthography . German

5010-558: Is an Indo-European language that belongs to the West Germanic group of the Germanic languages . The Germanic languages are traditionally subdivided into three branches: North Germanic , East Germanic , and West Germanic . The first of these branches survives in modern Danish , Swedish , Norwegian , Faroese , and Icelandic , all of which are descended from Old Norse . The East Germanic languages are now extinct, and Gothic

5177-523: Is at the CDC's page called "Vaccine Acronyms and Abbreviations", with abbreviations used on U.S. immunization records. The United States Adopted Name system has some conventions for the word order of vaccine names, placing head nouns first and adjectives postpositively . This is why the USAN for " OPV " is "poliovirus vaccine live oral" rather than "oral poliovirus vaccine". A vaccine licensure occurs after

German Ethics Council - Misplaced Pages Continue

5344-438: Is by no means centralized or global. For example, the vaccine names used in the United States have well-established abbreviations that are also widely known and used elsewhere. An extensive list of them provided in a sortable table and freely accessible is available at a US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention web page. The page explains that "The abbreviations [in] this table (Column 3) were standardized jointly by staff of

5511-440: Is called herd immunity . Polio, which is transmitted only among humans, is targeted by an extensive eradication campaign that has seen endemic polio restricted to only parts of three countries (Afghanistan, Nigeria, and Pakistan). However, the difficulty of reaching all children, cultural misunderstandings, and disinformation have caused the anticipated eradication date to be missed several times. Vaccines also help prevent

5678-478: Is called the "German Sprachraum ". German is the official language of the following countries: German is a co-official language of the following countries: Although expulsions and (forced) assimilation after the two World wars greatly diminished them, minority communities of mostly bilingual German native speakers exist in areas both adjacent to and detached from the Sprachraum. Within Europe, German

5845-430: Is complicated by the existence of several varieties whose status as separate "languages" or "dialects" is disputed for political and linguistic reasons, including quantitatively strong varieties like certain forms of Alemannic and Low German . With the inclusion or exclusion of certain varieties, it is estimated that approximately 90–95 million people speak German as a first language , 10–25   million speak it as

6012-454: Is designed to immunize against a single antigen or single microorganism. A multivalent or polyvalent vaccine is designed to immunize against two or more strains of the same microorganism, or against two or more microorganisms. The valency of a multivalent vaccine may be denoted with a Greek or Latin prefix (e.g., bivalent , trivalent , or tetravalent/quadrivalent ). In certain cases, a monovalent vaccine may be preferable for rapidly developing

6179-535: Is generally seen as ending when the 1346–53 Black Death decimated Europe's population. Modern High German begins with the Early New High German (ENHG) period, which Wilhelm Scherer dates 1350–1650, terminating with the end of the Thirty Years' War . This period saw the further displacement of Latin by German as the primary language of courtly proceedings and, increasingly, of literature in

6346-611: Is generally seen as lasting from 1050 to 1350. This was a period of significant expansion of the geographical territory occupied by Germanic tribes, and consequently of the number of German speakers. Whereas during the Old High German period the Germanic tribes extended only as far east as the Elbe and Saale rivers, the MHG period saw a number of these tribes expanding beyond this eastern boundary into Slavic territory (known as

6513-470: Is largely responsible for the worldwide eradication of smallpox and the restriction of diseases such as polio , measles , and tetanus from much of the world. The World Health Organization (WHO) reports that licensed vaccines are currently available for twenty-five different preventable infections . The first recorded use of inoculation to prevent smallpox occurred in the 16th century in China, with

6680-565: Is less closely related to languages based on Low Franconian dialects (e.g., Dutch and Afrikaans), Low German or Low Saxon dialects (spoken in northern Germany and southern Denmark ), neither of which underwent the High German consonant shift. As has been noted, the former of these dialect types is Istvaeonic and the latter Ingvaeonic, whereas the High German dialects are all Irminonic; the differences between these languages and standard German are therefore considerable. Also related to German are

6847-468: Is more effective against bacteria, has a better shelf-life, and improves vaccine stability, potency, and safety; but, in the U.S., the European Union , and a few other affluent countries, it is no longer used as a preservative in childhood vaccines, as a precautionary measure due to its mercury content. Although controversial claims have been made that thiomersal contributes to autism , no convincing scientific evidence supports these claims. Furthermore,

German Ethics Council - Misplaced Pages Continue

7014-435: Is one of the major languages of the world . German is the second-most widely spoken Germanic language , after English, both as a first and as a second language . German is also widely taught as a foreign language , especially in continental Europe (where it is the third most taught foreign language after English and French), and in the United States. Overall, German is the fourth most commonly learned second language, and

7181-597: Is one of the three biggest newspapers in Namibia and the only German-language daily in Africa. An estimated 12,000 people speak German or a German variety as a first language in South Africa, mostly originating from different waves of immigration during the 19th and 20th centuries. One of the largest communities consists of the speakers of "Nataler Deutsch", a variety of Low German concentrated in and around Wartburg . The South African constitution identifies German as

7348-401: Is partly derived from Latin and Greek , along with fewer words borrowed from French and Modern English . English, however, is the main source of more recent loanwords . German is a pluricentric language ; the three standardized variants are German , Austrian , and Swiss Standard German . Standard German is sometimes called High German , which refers to its regional origin. German

7515-561: Is rarely associated with complications in immunodeficient individuals, and rotavirus vaccines are moderately associated with intussusception . At least 19 countries have no-fault compensation programs to provide compensation for those with severe adverse effects of vaccination. The United States' program is known as the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act , and the United Kingdom employs

7682-424: Is termed vaccinology . There is overwhelming scientific consensus that vaccines are a very safe and effective way to fight and eradicate infectious diseases. The immune system recognizes vaccine agents as foreign, destroys them, and "remembers" them. When the virulent version of an agent is encountered, the body recognizes the protein coat on the agent, and thus is prepared to respond, by first neutralizing

7849-525: Is the Sachsenspiegel , the first book of laws written in Middle Low German ( c.  1220 ). The abundance and especially the secular character of the literature of the MHG period demonstrate the beginnings of a standardized written form of German, as well as the desire of poets and authors to be understood by individuals on supra-dialectal terms. The Middle High German period

8016-578: Is the only language in this branch which survives in written texts. The West Germanic languages, however, have undergone extensive dialectal subdivision and are now represented in modern languages such as English, German, Dutch , Yiddish , Afrikaans , and others. Within the West Germanic language dialect continuum, the Benrath and Uerdingen lines (running through Düsseldorf - Benrath and Krefeld - Uerdingen , respectively) serve to distinguish

8183-467: Is the subunit vaccine against hepatitis   B , which is composed of only the surface proteins of the virus (previously extracted from the blood serum of chronically infected patients but now produced by recombination of the viral genes into yeast ). Other examples include the Gardasil virus-like particle human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine, the hemagglutinin and neuraminidase subunits of

8350-433: Is understood in all areas where German is spoken. Approximate distribution of native German speakers (assuming a rounded total of 95 million) worldwide: As a result of the German diaspora , as well as the popularity of German taught as a foreign language , the geographical distribution of German speakers (or "Germanophones") spans all inhabited continents. However, an exact, global number of native German speakers

8517-689: The Ostsiedlung ). With the increasing wealth and geographic spread of the Germanic groups came greater use of German in the courts of nobles as the standard language of official proceedings and literature. A clear example of this is the mittelhochdeutsche Dichtersprache employed in the Hohenstaufen court in Swabia as a standardized supra-dialectal written language. While these efforts were still regionally bound, German began to be used in place of Latin for certain official purposes, leading to

SECTION 50

#1732791890371

8684-639: The Alamanni , Bavarian, and Thuringian groups, all belonging to the Elbe Germanic group ( Irminones ), which had settled in what is now southern-central Germany and Austria between the second and sixth centuries, during the great migration. In general, the surviving texts of Old High German (OHG) show a wide range of dialectal diversity with very little written uniformity. The early written tradition of OHG survived mostly through monasteries and scriptoria as local translations of Latin originals; as

8851-537: The Early Middle Ages . German is an inflected language , with four cases for nouns, pronouns, and adjectives (nominative, accusative, genitive, dative); three genders (masculine, feminine, neuter) and two numbers (singular, plural). It has strong and weak verbs . The majority of its vocabulary derives from the ancient Germanic branch of the Indo-European language family, while a smaller share

9018-417: The European Union 's population, spoke German as their mother tongue, making it the second most widely spoken language on the continent after Russian and the second biggest language in terms of overall speakers (after English), as well as the most spoken native language. The area in central Europe where the majority of the population speaks German as a first language and has German as a (co-)official language

9185-522: The German states . While these states were still part of the Holy Roman Empire , and far from any form of unification, the desire for a cohesive written language that would be understandable across the many German-speaking principalities and kingdoms was stronger than ever. As a spoken language German remained highly fractured throughout this period, with a vast number of often mutually incomprehensible regional dialects being spoken throughout

9352-746: The Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I , and the other being Meißner Deutsch , used in the Electorate of Saxony in the Duchy of Saxe-Wittenberg . Alongside these courtly written standards, the invention of the printing press led to the development of a number of printers' languages ( Druckersprachen ) aimed at making printed material readable and understandable across as many diverse dialects of German as possible. The greater ease of production and increased availability of written texts brought about increased standardisation in

9519-666: The Old High German language in several Elder Futhark inscriptions from as early as the sixth century AD (such as the Pforzen buckle ), the Old High German period is generally seen as beginning with the Abrogans (written c.  765–775 ), a Latin-German glossary supplying over 3,000 Old High German words with their Latin equivalents. After the Abrogans , the first coherent works written in Old High German appear in

9686-676: The Sprachraum in Europe. German is used in a wide variety of spheres throughout the country, especially in business, tourism, and public signage, as well as in education, churches (most notably the German-speaking Evangelical Lutheran Church in Namibia (GELK) ), other cultural spheres such as music, and media (such as German language radio programs by the Namibian Broadcasting Corporation ). The Allgemeine Zeitung

9853-550: The Standard German language in its written form, and the Duden Handbook was declared its standard definition. Punctuation and compound spelling (joined or isolated compounds) were not standardized in the process. The Deutsche Bühnensprache ( lit.   ' German stage language ' ) by Theodor Siebs had established conventions for German pronunciation in theatres , three years earlier; however, this

10020-513: The Upper German dialects spoken in the southern German-speaking countries , such as Swiss German ( Alemannic dialects ) and the various Germanic dialects spoken in the French region of Grand Est , such as Alsatian (mainly Alemannic, but also Central–and   Upper Franconian dialects) and Lorraine Franconian (Central Franconian). After these High German dialects, standard German

10187-651: The Vaccine Damage Payment . Vaccines typically contain attenuated, inactivated or dead organisms or purified products derived from them. There are several types of vaccines in use. These represent different strategies used to try to reduce the risk of illness while retaining the ability to induce a beneficial immune response. Some vaccines contain live, attenuated microorganisms. Many of these are active viruses that have been cultivated under conditions that disable their virulent properties, or that use closely related but less dangerous organisms to produce

SECTION 60

#1732791890371

10354-482: The human genome . New possibilities and their ethical evaluation (2016), The quantified human – big data and health (2015). In addition, the Council organizes a series of public evening events in Berlin called Bioethics Forums. These events, usually introduced by guest lecturers, aim at publicly discussing concrete biopolitical issues. Topics of the last years were: Patient-Oriented Data Use (2023), Good to Know? On

10521-851: The influenza virus, and edible algae vaccines . A subunit vaccine is being used for plague immunization. Certain bacteria have a polysaccharide outer coat that is poorly immunogenic . By linking these outer coats to proteins (e.g., toxins), the immune system can be led to recognize the polysaccharide as if it were a protein antigen. This approach is used in the Haemophilus influenzae type B vaccine . Outer membrane vesicles (OMVs) are naturally immunogenic and can be manipulated to produce potent vaccines. The best known OMV vaccines are those developed for serotype B meningococcal disease . Heterologous vaccines also known as "Jennerian vaccines", are vaccines that are pathogens of other animals that either do not cause disease or cause mild disease in

10688-469: The pagan Germanic tradition. Of particular interest to scholars, however, has been the Hildebrandslied , a secular epic poem telling the tale of an estranged father and son unknowingly meeting each other in battle. Linguistically, this text is highly interesting due to the mixed use of Old Saxon and Old High German dialects in its composition. The written works of this period stem mainly from

10855-657: The theoretical neuroscientist Susanne Schreiber. On 11 April 2016, the President of the Bundestag, Norbert Lammert , appointed the following members of the Ethics Council for the first or second time, respectively: The following scholars, whose appointment period had not yet expired in April 2016, were also members of the German Ethics Council in 2016: Changes since 2017: Chair and Vice-Chairs 2016–2020: At

11022-893: The British Nuffield Council on Bioethics and the French Comité consultatif national d’éthique took place in Berlin in 2009, 2012, 2016 and 2019. Meetings of the Ethics Councils of Germany, Austria and Switzerland were held in Berlin in 2014, 2017 ans 2022. In addition, the Council hosted the 2016 Global Summit of National Ethics/Bioethics Councils in Berlin under the Presidency of 2012-2016 Chair Prof. Dr. Christiane Woopen of Cologne University . German language German (German: Deutsch , pronounced [dɔʏtʃ] )

11189-496: The Bundestag to pass recommendations concerning this matter. Considering the impending cost increase in the health care sector, due to medical progress with a simultaneous increase in life expectancy , the council's Opinion formulates recommendations based on the principle of human dignity and the accompanying fundamental rights that aim both at optimising the allocation of funds for healthcare and achieving equitable distribution of resources. In this Opinion, published on 8 March 2011,

11356-522: The CDC further explains that "Upper-case letters in these abbreviations denote full-strength doses of diphtheria (D) and tetanus (T) toxoids and pertussis (P) vaccine. Lower-case "d" and "p" denote reduced doses of diphtheria and pertussis used in the adolescent/adult-formulations. The 'a' in DTaP and Tdap stands for 'acellular', meaning that the pertussis component contains only a part of the pertussis organism." Another list of established vaccine abbreviations

11523-564: The COVID-19 pandemic, the Federal Minister of Health has asked the German Ethics Council to consider the ethical requirements and implications associated with such certificates. In its Opinion, the German Ethics Council makes a number of joint recommendations on the topic and develops different positions on whether and − if so − under which conditions immunity certificates can be recommended. The Opinion "Immunity Certificates during

11690-720: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, ACIP Work Groups, the editor of the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR), the editor of Epidemiology and Prevention of Vaccine-Preventable Diseases (the Pink Book), ACIP members, and liaison organizations to the ACIP." Some examples are " DTaP " for diphtheria and tetanus toxoids and acellular pertussis vaccine, "DT" for diphtheria and tetanus toxoids, and "Td" for tetanus and diphtheria toxoids. At its page on tetanus vaccination,

11857-430: The Classroom – Ethical Questions on ChatGPT and Similar Applications“. The German Ethics Council consists of 26 members who shall exercise their office in person and independently. They may not belong either to the Federal Parliament or the federal government or to a federal states’ parliament or government respectively. They represent scientific, medical, theological , ethical, social , economic and legal concerns in

12024-513: The Council presents recommendations regarding the legal regulation of embryo donation, embryo adoption and assumption of parental responsibility. The Council discusses the questions arising from the transfer of so-called surplus embryos to a third party for the purpose of carrying them out and assuming permanent parental responsibility. Namely it addresses the questions of children's opportunities for life and development, parental responsibility, and family relationships. Taking special account of

12191-449: The Council recommends legally binding regulations and calls upon the scientific community and the federal government to promote the development of biosecurity codes of conduct for responsible research both within the EU and at a global level. The Opinion on “ Incest prohibition ”, published 24 September 2014, evaluates, if, based on ethical reasons, a revision of the current legal situation on

12358-475: The Covid-19 Pandemic" has been published on 22 September 2020. The German version of the Opinion "Vulnerability and Resilience in a Crisis – Ethical Criteria for Decision-Making in a Pandemic" has been published on 4 April 2022. In this Opinion, the German Ethics Council reflects on the experience gathered in the struggle against the COVID-19 pandemic and draws conclusions for future ways to deal with

12525-723: The Empire. Its use indicated that the speaker was a merchant or someone from an urban area, regardless of nationality. Prague (German: Prag ) and Budapest ( Buda , German: Ofen ), to name two examples, were gradually Germanized in the years after their incorporation into the Habsburg domain; others, like Pressburg ( Pozsony , now Bratislava), were originally settled during the Habsburg period and were primarily German at that time. Prague, Budapest, Bratislava, and cities like Zagreb (German: Agram ) or Ljubljana (German: Laibach ), contained significant German minorities. In

12692-524: The Ethics Council, the key question for an ethical evaluation is whether human authorship and the conditions for responsible action are expanded or diminished by the use of AI. In the Opinion, the Council addresses this question in four exemplary areas – medicine, schools, public communication and the shaping of public opinion, and public administration. Since 2013, the council has been publishing Ad hoc Recommendations in which it comments on current issues. Ad hoc Recommendations have been published concerning

12859-537: The Federal Government, the Council dedicated its prepared the Opinion “ Intersexuality ”, published on 23 February 2012, to the situation of intersex people in Germany. It emphasizes that people with differences of sex development (DSD) deserve respect and support; this implies that they need to be protected from undesirable medical developments, i.e. discrimination. The central issue in question concerns

13026-748: The Frisian languages— North Frisian (spoken in Nordfriesland ), Saterland Frisian (spoken in Saterland ), and West Frisian (spoken in Friesland )—as well as the Anglic languages of English and Scots. These Anglo-Frisian dialects did not take part in the High German consonant shift, and the Anglic languages also adopted much vocabulary from both Old Norse and the Norman language . The history of

13193-699: The German Ethics Council advises and discusses in a full-day event on its current topics. Conference topics of the last years were: One Health: Health for All and Everything? (2023), Steep Prices – Speedy Recovery? Towards Fair Pricing of Expensive Medicines (2022), To Your Health! Dimensions of Nutritional Responsibility (2021), Care – Robot – Ethics. Ethical Challenges in the Technologisation of Care (2019), Human Dignity in Our Hands – Challenges from New Technologies (2018), Autonomous systems . How intelligent machines are changing us (2017), Access to

13360-578: The German Ethics Council are then designated by the President of the Bundestag for four years. Through this procedure, different ethical approaches and a pluralistic spectrum of opinion should be represented. Independence is to be ensured, amongst others, by prohibiting the members to belong to the Federal Parliament or the Federal Government or to a Federal States’ Parliament or Government respectively. The German Ethics Council fulfils

13527-536: The German language begins with the High German consonant shift during the Migration Period , which separated Old High German dialects from Old Saxon . This sound shift involved a drastic change in the pronunciation of both voiced and voiceless stop consonants ( b , d , g , and p , t , k , respectively). The primary effects of the shift were the following below. While there is written evidence of

13694-451: The German states; the invention of the printing press c.  1440 and the publication of Luther's vernacular translation of the Bible in 1534, however, had an immense effect on standardizing German as a supra-dialectal written language. The ENHG period saw the rise of several important cross-regional forms of chancery German, one being gemeine tiutsch , used in the court of

13861-681: The Germanic dialects that were affected by the High German consonant shift (south of Benrath) from those that were not (north of Uerdingen). The various regional dialects spoken south of these lines are grouped as High German dialects, while those spoken to the north comprise the Low German and Low Franconian dialects. As members of the West Germanic language family, High German, Low German, and Low Franconian have been proposed to be further distinguished historically as Irminonic , Ingvaeonic , and Istvaeonic , respectively. This classification indicates their historical descent from dialects spoken by

14028-655: The Irminones (also known as the Elbe group), Ingvaeones (or North Sea Germanic group), and Istvaeones (or Weser–Rhine group). Standard German is based on a combination of Thuringian - Upper Saxon and Upper Franconian dialects, which are Central German and Upper German dialects belonging to the High German dialect group. German is therefore closely related to the other languages based on High German dialects, such as Luxembourgish (based on Central Franconian dialects ) and Yiddish . Also closely related to Standard German are

14195-865: The Italian autonomous region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia , as well as a recognized national language in Namibia . There are also notable German-speaking communities in France ( Alsace ), the Czech Republic ( North Bohemia ), Poland ( Upper Silesia ), Slovakia ( Košice Region , Spiš , and Hauerland ), Denmark ( North Schleswig ), Romania and Hungary ( Sopron ). Overseas, sizeable communities of German-speakers are found in Brazil ( Blumenau and Pomerode ), South Africa ( Kroondal ), Namibia , among others, some communities have decidedly Austrian German or Swiss German characters (e.g. Pozuzo , Peru). German

14362-518: The MHG period. Significantly, these texts include a number of impressive secular works, such as the Nibelungenlied , an epic poem telling the story of the dragon -slayer Siegfried ( c.  thirteenth century ), and the Iwein , an Arthurian verse poem by Hartmann von Aue ( c.  1203 ), lyric poems , and courtly romances such as Parzival and Tristan . Also noteworthy

14529-648: The Responsible Use of Non-Invasive Prenatal Testing (NIPT) (2022), Triage – Prioritising Intensive Care Resources under Pandemic Conditions (2021), Who First? Allocation of Vaccines against SARS-CoV-2 (2020), Transgender Identity in Children and Adolescents (2020), Advantages and disadvantages of opt-out organ donation (2018), Rare diseases (2018), Egg donation abroad and the consequences of this practice in Germany (2017), Antibiotic resistance (2016), Disease mongering (2015), People with disabilities –

14696-468: The Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which also includes persons with dementia, should be consistently applied to support their possibilities of self-determination. The Opinion on ” Biosecurity – freedom and responsibility of research”, published on 7 May 2014, discusses the issue of Dual Use Research of Concern (DURC), which describes research results in the life sciences that cannot only be used for

14863-489: The US. A DNA vaccine uses a DNA plasmid (pDNA)) that encodes for an antigenic protein originating from the pathogen upon which the vaccine will be targeted. pDNA is inexpensive, stable, and relatively safe, making it an excellent option for vaccine delivery. This approach offers a number of potential advantages over traditional approaches, including the stimulation of both B- and T-cell responses, improved vaccine stability,

15030-469: The absence of any infectious agent and the relative ease of large-scale manufacture. Many innovative vaccines are also in development and use. While most vaccines are created using inactivated or attenuated compounds from microorganisms, synthetic vaccines are composed mainly or wholly of synthetic peptides, carbohydrates, or antigens. Vaccines may be monovalent (also called univalent ) or multivalent (also called polyvalent ). A monovalent vaccine

15197-584: The admissibility of surgical procedures on sexual organs of people with DSD. If a person's physical integrity requires an irreversible medical sex disambiguation or sex assignment measure, the relevant decision should always be taken solely by the individual concerned. In the case of a minor, such measures should be adopted only if absolutely necessary for safeguarding the child's well-being and only after thorough consideration of all their medical, psychological and psychosocial advantages, disadvantages and long-term consequences. The Opinion further recommends that

15364-479: The amount of serotype   2 virus in the vaccine had to be reduced to stop it from interfering with the "take" of the serotype   1 and   3 viruses in the vaccine. It was also noted in a 2001 study to be a problem with dengue vaccines, where the DEN-3 serotype was found to predominate and suppress the response to DEN-1, -2 and -4 serotypes. Vaccines typically contain one or more adjuvants , used to boost

15531-475: The attention of politicians, legislators and practitioners to regulatory and implementation deficits and it formulates recommendations to remedy them. Thirdly, it intends to support the health and social professions in reorienting their self-image and their practice. The Opinion contains general recommendations for the responsible handling of coercion in professional caring relationships, as well as specific advice for psychiatry, child and youth support services, and

15698-417: The benefit of individuals and society, but  also misused with the intent to cause harm . To prevent such misuse, the Council recommends heightening the scientific community's awareness of the danger of misuse, establishing a national biosecurity code of conduct to deal responsibly with research that may be open to misuse, and making funding of DURC contingent on approval by a new DURC Commission. Further,

15865-465: The child's welfare, the Council considers it to be ethically necessary to legally specify the framework conditions of embryo donation and adoption. The Opinion contains several recommendations on how to deal with both. Growing economic pressure due to the cost development in the health care sector poses the question of the guiding normative criterion of hospital care. Addressing this issue, the Opinion, published 5 April 2016, identifies patient welfare as

16032-433: The compulsory binary classification of “male” and “female” in the civil registry should be ceased and non-binary people should be enabled to have registered civil partnerships . The council's Opinion “ Dementia and self-determination”, published on 24 April 2012, emphasizes the importance of respecting and encouraging the self-determination of people with dementia. It supports the federal government's aim of developing

16199-569: The concept of vaccines and created the first vaccine) to denote cowpox . He used the phrase in 1798 for the long title of his Inquiry into the Variolae vaccinae Known as the Cow Pox , in which he described the protective effect of cowpox against smallpox. In 1881, to honor Jenner, Louis Pasteur proposed that the terms should be extended to cover the new protective inoculations then being developed. The science of vaccine development and production

16366-568: The constituent meeting of the German Ethics Council on 28 April 2016, Peter Dabrock was elected Chair of the council, Katrin Amunts , Andreas Kruse and Claudia Wiesemann Vice-Chairs. Following Andreas Kruse's resignation from the council at the end of April 2018, council member Volker Lipp was elected Vice-Chair at the plenary meeting on 17 May 2018. On 11 April 2012, then President of the Bundestag Norbert Lammert appointed

16533-423: The council comprehensively sets out the relevant factual position and the decisive arguments of supporters and opponents of permitting preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD). Against the background of current technological and legal developments, the Ethics Council describes the current practice and the new possibilities of genetic diagnosis of embryos . It goes into detail on the various positions and arguments on

16700-616: The council is supported by an administrative office, which is located in Berlin at the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities (in German: Berlin-Brandenburgische Akademie der Wissenschaften). In 2018, the budget of the German Bundestag provided 1.895 million Euros for the council's work. Once a year, a public annual conference of the German Ethics Council takes place in Berlin; together with external experts ,

16867-503: The development of antibiotic resistance. For example, by greatly reducing the incidence of pneumonia caused by Streptococcus pneumoniae , vaccine programs have greatly reduced the prevalence of infections resistant to penicillin or other first-line antibiotics. The measles vaccine is estimated to prevent a million deaths every year. Vaccinations given to children, adolescents, or adults are generally safe. Adverse effects, if any, are generally mild. The rate of side effects depends on

17034-430: The development of non-local forms of language and exposed all speakers to forms of German from outside their own area. With Luther's rendering of the Bible in the vernacular, German asserted itself against the dominance of Latin as a legitimate language for courtly, literary, and now ecclesiastical subject-matter. His Bible was ubiquitous in the German states: nearly every household possessed a copy. Nevertheless, even with

17201-456: The dialect so as to make the work as natural and accessible to German speakers as possible. Copies of Luther's Bible featured a long list of glosses for each region, translating words which were unknown in the region into the regional dialect. Luther said the following concerning his translation method: One who would talk German does not ask the Latin how he shall do it; he must ask the mother in

17368-401: The different responsibilities of various stakeholders in the context of suicide decisions and suicide prevention. The German version of the Opinion "Humans and Machines – Challenges of Artificial Intelligence" has been published on 20 March 2023. The Council examines how digital technologies, and in particular artificial intelligence, affect human self-conception and interactions. In the view of

17535-428: The earliest hints of the practice in China coming during the 10th century. It was also the first disease for which a vaccine was produced. The folk practice of inoculation against smallpox was brought from Turkey to Britain in 1721 by Lady Mary Wortley Montagu . The terms vaccine and vaccination are derived from Variolae vaccinae (smallpox of the cow), the term devised by Edward Jenner (who both developed

17702-519: The eastern provinces of Banat , Bukovina , and Transylvania (German: Banat, Buchenland, Siebenbürgen ), German was the predominant language not only in the larger towns—like Temeschburg ( Timișoara ), Hermannstadt ( Sibiu ), and Kronstadt ( Brașov )—but also in many smaller localities in the surrounding areas. In 1901, the Second Orthographic Conference ended with a (nearly) complete standardization of

17869-415: The effects of a future infection by a natural or "wild" pathogen ), or therapeutic (to fight a disease that has already occurred, such as cancer ). Some vaccines offer full sterilizing immunity , in which infection is prevented. The administration of vaccines is called vaccination . Vaccination is the most effective method of preventing infectious diseases; widespread immunity due to vaccination

18036-472: The effects of big data processing on the healthcare system. Big data processing is characterized by the large volume and variety of data as well as the high velocity of its collection and processing,. Big data can improve diagnosis, therapy, and prevention; however, risks such as a loss of control over personal data arise. The Council examined these trends in a two-and-a-half year long process that involved extensive exchanges with experts and interested members of

18203-435: The end of their terms with the body on 10 April 2020, among them the previous chairman Peter Dabrock. Including three members who were appointed outside the regular cycle between 2016 and 2018, the German Ethics Council has 24 members since 30 April 2020. On 28 May 2020, the council members elected medical ethicist Alena Buyx as its chair, and as its vice-chairs the lawyer Volker Lipp, the philosopher Julian Nida-Rümelin and

18370-425: The eradication of smallpox , one of the most contagious and deadly diseases in humans. Other diseases such as rubella, polio , measles, mumps, chickenpox , and typhoid are nowhere near as common as they were a hundred years ago thanks to widespread vaccination programs. As long as the vast majority of people are vaccinated, it is much more difficult for an outbreak of disease to occur, let alone spread. This effect

18537-408: The ethical and constitutional legitimacy of organ removal. The Council emphasizes the importance of transparency as well as an open public discussion in order to strengthen confidence in transplantation medicine . Further, it calls for improvements in information and communication and suggests amendments to the statutory regulations on organ-protective measures. In an Opinion, published 22 March 2016,

18704-446: The ethical challenges that arise from the creation of human-animal mixtures for medical research purposes. Such experiments call into question the biological species boundary between humans and animals. The Council considers it necessary to identify the ethical challenges that may be presented by the creation of human-animal mixtures and to determine where it may be appropriate to set binding limits. The Council concentrates its attention on

18871-452: The existence of this moral duty does not necessarily entail the justification of a legal obligation to vaccinate. At the time of publication of its Opinion, the Council considers such a mandatory vaccination policy only to be appropriate for personnel in the health, social and educational sectors. However, the Council recommends a number of other measures, which, taken together, could be suitable to close any remaining vaccination gaps and achieve

19038-476: The facilities for anonymous relinquishment of infants, and in view of the unproven life-protecting effect of these possibilities, the German Ethics Council recommends abandoning these facilities. Instead, public information and institutional aid programs for pregnant women should be expanded considerably. The Opinion “Human biobanks for research”, published on 15 June 2010, discusses the ethical and legal issues arising in connection with human biobanks, ranging from

19205-407: The federal government and the German Bundestag. The council reports once a year to the German Bundestag and the federal government on its activities and the state of the debate in society. In order to inform the public and encourage discussion in society, the council organises public events and provides information about its activities on its website , in its newsletter and annual report . Besides

19372-439: The fields of elderly and disability care. Using the example of measles , the council has examined which regulatory measures are ethically and legally acceptable to meet vaccination goals. In its Opinion, published 27 June 2019, the Council states that it is not a purely private matter, but rather a moral duty to have oneself and one's own children vaccinated against a highly contagious infectious disease such as measles. However,

19539-416: The finished product, as they may in the environment and population as a whole. Many vaccines need preservatives to prevent serious adverse effects such as Staphylococcus infection, which in one 1928 incident killed 12 of 21 children inoculated with a diphtheria vaccine that lacked a preservative. Several preservatives are available, including thiomersal, phenoxyethanol , and formaldehyde . Thiomersal

19706-485: The following members for the German Ethics Council's second term: During the constituting assembly, the German Ethics Council elected Christiane Woopen as chairwoman as well as Wolf-Michael Catenhusen, Peter Dabrock, and Jochen Taupitz as vice chairpersons. Following the respective suggestions of the Bundestag and the Federal Government, the then President of the Bundestag Norbert Lammert appointed

19873-421: The following members on 15 February 2008, who represented the German Ethics Council until 2012: During the German Ethics Council's inaugural meeting, its members elected Edzard Schmidt-Jortzig as their chairman and Christiane Woopen as well as Eberhard Schockenhoff as their vice chairpersons. The Council usually decides on its substantive focus during the last meeting of each year, creating a working schedule for

20040-611: The following topics: In addition to the Opinions and Ad hoc Recommendations, the Council publishes annual reports, three times a year an “information letter” (Infobrief, only in German), studies and documentations (in German, sometimes also in English), e.g. conference reports, documentations of consultations. The Council stays in close dialogue with its partner committees in other European countries. For example, trilateral meetings with

20207-495: The future. On 16 June 2020, the Council published its Opinion "Tierwohlachtung – Zum verantwortlichen Umgang mit Nutztieren" (Respecting Animal Welfare − On the Responsible Treatment of Farm Animals ). An English version of the Opinion is announced. The COVID-19 pandemic has triggered controversial discussions about the introduction of state-controlled immunity certificates . Relating to legislative decisions on

20374-557: The general population, a high standard of safety is required. As part of a multinational licensing of a vaccine, the World Health Organization Expert Committee on Biological Standardization developed guidelines of international standards for manufacturing and quality control of vaccines, a process intended as a platform for national regulatory agencies to apply for their own licensing process. Vaccine manufacturers do not receive licensing until

20541-431: The goal of eliminating measles permanently. In its Opinion, published 9 May 2019, the Council examines whether interventions in the human germline could be at all justifiable and according to which criteria the ethical admissibility of specific applications can be decided. It examines the further research process necessary before any clinical application and three possible areas of application for germline interventions :

20708-410: The grounds of ethics is advisable. The Council aims for an open and unprejudiced discussion of the juridical and ethical issues arising in the context of close-relative relationships , focusing on consensual coitus between adults. Particular attention is given the case of sexual contact between (half) siblings that share a family unit and bonds lived in practice no longer exist – a possible aftermath of

20875-495: The guiding ethical principle for hospitals. It examines three dimensions determining patient welfare: patients’ self-determination, treatment quality, and distributive justice. The Council formulates recommendations that aim to enshrine and guarantee the orientation on patient welfare in hospital care, including for instance improvements in the areas of communication, documentation, digitalization, and accessibility. The Opinion “Big data and health”, published 30 November 2017, examines

21042-435: The home, the children on the streets, the common man in the market-place and note carefully how they talk, then translate accordingly. They will then understand what is said to them because it is German. When Christ says ' ex abundantia cordis os loquitur ,' I would translate, if I followed the papists, aus dem Überflusz des Herzens redet der Mund . But tell me is this talking German? What German understands such stuff? No,

21209-434: The host can still become infected. Once antibodies are produced, they may promote immunity in any of several ways, depending on the class of antibodies involved. Their success in clearing or inactivating a pathogen will depend on the amount of antibodies produced and on the extent to which those antibodies are effective at countering the strain of the pathogen involved, since different strains may be differently susceptible to

21376-414: The host's immune system does not respond adequately or at all. Host-related lack of response occurs in an estimated 2-10% of individuals, due to factors including genetics, immune status, age, health and nutritional status. One type of primary immunodeficiency disorder resulting in genetic failure is X-linked agammaglobulinemia , in which the absence of an enzyme essential for B cell development prevents

21543-411: The host's immune system from generating antibodies to a pathogen . Host–pathogen interactions and responses to infection are dynamic processes involving multiple pathways in the immune system. A host does not develop antibodies instantaneously: while the body's innate immunity may be activated in as little as twelve hours, adaptive immunity can take 1–2 weeks to fully develop. During that time,

21710-417: The immune response. Tetanus toxoid, for instance, is usually adsorbed onto alum . This presents the antigen in such a way as to produce a greater action than the simple aqueous tetanus toxoid. People who have an adverse reaction to adsorbed tetanus toxoid may be given the simple vaccine when the time comes for a booster. In the preparation for the 1990 Persian Gulf campaign, the whole cell pertussis vaccine

21877-430: The immunodominant antigen of the pathogen or a surface protein that enables the formation of neutralizing antibodies. The subgroup of genetic vaccines encompass viral vector vaccines, RNA vaccines and DNA vaccines. Viral vector vaccines use a safe virus to insert pathogen genes in the body to produce specific antigens , such as surface proteins , to stimulate an immune response . An mRNA vaccine (or RNA vaccine )

22044-456: The increasing number of people in need of care and assistance and the worsening shortage of nursing staff. In its Opinion “Robotics for Good Care”, published 10 March 2020, the Council acknowledges the potential benefits of robotics for the entire care sector, but sees these benefits less in the elimination of staff shortages or the nursing crisis and more in its potential to promote good care. The realization of this potential, however, requires that

22211-481: The influence of Luther's Bible as an unofficial written standard, a widely accepted standard for written German did not appear until the middle of the eighteenth century. German was the language of commerce and government in the Habsburg Empire , which encompassed a large area of Central and Eastern Europe . Until the mid-nineteenth century, it was essentially the language of townspeople throughout most of

22378-424: The interests and rights of personality of the donors, to achieve more legal certainty for biobank research and at the same time to facilitate research. The council's Opinion “Medical benefits and costs in healthcare”, published on 27 January 2011, deals with the question of the allocation of funds in the health care sector. Addressing this issue was a reaction to the inability of two Enquete Commissions appointed by

22545-469: The largest concentrations of German speakers are in the states of Rio Grande do Sul (where Riograndenser Hunsrückisch developed), Santa Catarina , and Espírito Santo . Vaccine A vaccine is a biological preparation that provides active acquired immunity to a particular infectious or malignant disease. The safety and effectiveness of vaccines has been widely studied and verified. A vaccine typically contains an agent that resembles

22712-448: The microorganism. Examples of toxoid-based vaccines include tetanus and diphtheria . Not all toxoids are for microorganisms; for example, Crotalus atrox toxoid is used to vaccinate dogs against rattlesnake bites. Rather than introducing an inactivated or attenuated microorganism to an immune system (which would constitute a "whole-agent" vaccine), a subunit vaccine uses a fragment of it to create an immune response. One example

22879-402: The mother in the home and the plain man would say, Wesz das Herz voll ist, des gehet der Mund über . Luther's translation of the Bible into High German was also decisive for the German language and its evolution from Early New High German to modern Standard German. The publication of Luther's Bible was a decisive moment in the spread of literacy in early modern Germany , and promoted

23046-653: The ninth century, chief among them being the Muspilli , Merseburg charms , and Hildebrandslied , and other religious texts (the Georgslied , Ludwigslied , Evangelienbuch , and translated hymns and prayers). The Muspilli is a Christian poem written in a Bavarian dialect offering an account of the soul after the Last Judgment , and the Merseburg charms are transcriptions of spells and charms from

23213-440: The number of cases dropped to fewer than 150 per year (median of 56). In early 2008, there were 64 suspected cases of measles. Fifty-four of those infections were associated with importation from another country, although only thirteen percent were actually acquired outside the United States; 63 of the 64 individuals either had never been vaccinated against measles or were uncertain whether they had been vaccinated. Vaccines led to

23380-441: The obvious tensions between animal welfare regulations and certain aspects of agricultural practice. The aim of the project was to define more clearly both the protected goods at the heart of animal welfare regulation and the criteria according to which these may be curtailed in favour of other interests. Furthermore, the group aimed to examine ways in which such a balancing of interests could be done more honestly and consistently in

23547-494: The only childhood vaccine in the U.S. that contains thiomersal in greater than trace amounts is the influenza vaccine, which is currently recommended only for children with certain risk factors. Single-dose influenza vaccines supplied in the UK do not list thiomersal in the ingredients. Preservatives may be used at various stages of the production of vaccines, and the most sophisticated methods of measurement might detect traces of them in

23714-400: The organism being treated. The classic example is Jenner's use of cowpox to protect against smallpox. A current example is the use of BCG vaccine made from Mycobacterium bovis to protect against tuberculosis . Genetic vaccines are based on the principle of uptake of a nucleic acid into cells, whereupon a protein is produced according to the nucleic acid template. This protein is usually

23881-406: The potentials of big data, (ii) preserve individual freedom and privacy, (iii) safeguard fairness and solidarity, and (iv) promote responsibility and trust. In this Opinion, published 1 November 2018, the Council addresses the use of coercive measures in health and social services , including for instance the deprivation of liberty and medical treatment or care measures against a person's will. If

24048-430: The prevention of severe hereditary disorders , the reduction of disease risks and the targeted improvement of specific human traits or abilities (enhancement). The analysis is based on eight ethical concepts: human dignity, protection of life and integrity, freedom, naturalness, non-maleficence and beneficence, justice, solidarity and responsibility. The Council members come up with seven unanimous recommendations, including

24215-462: The pronunciation of the ending -ig as [ɪk] instead of [ɪç]. In Northern Germany, High German was a foreign language to most inhabitants, whose native dialects were subsets of Low German. It was usually encountered only in writing or formal speech; in fact, most of High German was a written language, not identical to any spoken dialect, throughout the German-speaking area until well into the 19th century. However, wider standardization of pronunciation

24382-418: The protection of individual rights to the global regulation of research infrastructures. In its Opinion, the Council proposes a five-pillar concept for biobank regulation. It includes recommendations on introducing biobank secrecy, on defining permissible use, on involving ethics commissions , on quality assurance and on transparency. It is the aim of the recommendation to provide a suitable legal framework for

24549-431: The public. The Opinion analyses the chances and risks of big data in five health relevant application contexts, evaluates the current legal framework and explores how values such as freedom, privacy, sovereignty, beneficence, justice, solidarity and responsibility can be guaranteed under big data conditions. The Council recommends a governance concept focusing on data sovereignty and makes specific suggestions to (i) realise

24716-444: The reception of its recommendations by the general public. In addition to the Opinions, the Council publishes Ad hoc Recommendations (for further information see the relevant paragraph below). The council's first Opinion “Anonymous relinquishment of infants”, published on 26 November 2009, addresses the ethical and legal problems raised by facilities for anonymous birth . Considering the legal and individual problems associated with

24883-437: The severity of infection and response to a vaccine. Elderly (above age 60), allergen-hypersensitive , and obese people have susceptibility to compromised immunogenicity , which prevents or inhibits vaccine effectiveness, possibly requiring separate vaccine technologies for these specific populations or repetitive booster vaccinations to limit virus transmission . Severe side effects are extremely rare. Varicella vaccine

25050-457: The severity of infection, resulting in a lower mortality rate , lower morbidity , faster recovery from illness, and a wide range of other effects. Those who are older often display less of a response than those who are younger, a pattern known as Immunosenescence . Adjuvants commonly are used to boost immune response, particularly for older people whose immune response to a simple vaccine may have weakened. The efficacy or performance of

25217-546: The states of North Dakota and South Dakota , German is the most common language spoken at home after English. As a legacy of significant German immigration to the country , German geographical names can be found throughout the Midwest region , such as New Ulm and Bismarck (North Dakota's state capital), plus many other regions. A number of German varieties have developed in the country and are still spoken today, such as Pennsylvania Dutch and Texas German . In Brazil,

25384-417: The status and protection of embryos and discusses the most important socio-ethical aspects. Due to differing views among the council's members, particularly concerning the status of embryos in vitro and thus the justifiability of PGD, the council develops two alternative proposals for legislation on PGD. In its Opinion “Human-animal mixtures in research”, published on 27 September 2011, the Council identifies

25551-424: The subsequent months. Each topic is continuously discussed in the plenary sessions, the working groups, and dedicated public events. The working process for an opinion normally stretches over several years. If, in the drafting process, members have a dissenting view, they may express this in the opinion . After publishing an opinion, the council accompanies the corresponding political and societal debates and evaluates

25718-496: The successful conclusion of the development cycle and further the clinical trials and other programs involved through Phases   I–III demonstrating safety, immunoactivity, immunogenetic safety at a given specific dose, proven effectiveness in preventing infection for target populations, and enduring preventive effect (time endurance or need for revaccination must be estimated). Because preventive vaccines are predominantly evaluated in healthy population cohorts and distributed among

25885-402: The target agent before it can enter cells, and secondly by recognizing and destroying infected cells before that agent can multiply to vast numbers. Limitations to their effectiveness, nevertheless, exist. Sometimes, protection fails for vaccine-related reasons such as failures in vaccine attenuation, vaccination regimens or administration. Failure may also occur for host-related reasons if

26052-500: The third most commonly learned second language in the United States in K-12 education. The language has been influential in the fields of philosophy, theology, science, and technology. It is the second most commonly used language in science and the third most widely used language on websites . The German-speaking countries are ranked fifth in terms of annual publication of new books, with one-tenth of all books (including e-books) in

26219-426: The transfer of human material to animals, which it examines on the basis of three examples: cytoplasmic hybrids (cybrids), formed by the insertion of a human cell nucleus into an enucleated animal egg; transgenic animals with human genetic material; and the transfer of human cells into the brains of fetal or adult animals (brain chimeras ). The Opinion presents recommendations on these examples. Upon request of

26386-540: The use of robots does not replace interpersonal relationships , that it is not used against the will of (professional) caregivers and people in need of care or merely to maximize efficiency, and that those affected by the techniques can also participate in their development. The Council took current debates as an opportunity to critically evaluate the treatment of livestock from a legal and ethical perspective. A working group looked at differences and discrepancies in dealing with and relating to different animals as well as at

26553-574: The vaccine in question. Some common side effects include fever, pain around the injection site, and muscle aches. Additionally, some individuals may be allergic to ingredients in the vaccine. MMR vaccine is rarely associated with febrile seizures . Host-("vaccinee")-related determinants that render a person susceptible to infection, such as genetics , health status (underlying disease, nutrition, pregnancy, sensitivities or allergies ), immune competence , age, and economic impact or cultural environment can be primary or secondary factors affecting

26720-413: The vaccine is dependent on several factors: If a vaccinated individual does develop the disease vaccinated against ( breakthrough infection ), the disease is likely to be less virulent than in unvaccinated cases. Important considerations in an effective vaccination program: In 1958, there were 763,094 cases of measles in the United States; 552 deaths resulted. After the introduction of new vaccines,

26887-777: The vaccine. The live attenuated vaccine containing strain Yersinia pestis EV is used for plague immunization. Attenuated vaccines have some advantages and disadvantages. Attenuated, or live, weakened, vaccines typically provoke more durable immunological responses. But they may not be safe for use in immunocompromised individuals, and on rare occasions mutate to a virulent form and cause disease. Some vaccines contain microorganisms that have been killed or inactivated by physical or chemical means. Examples include IPV ( polio vaccine ), hepatitis A vaccine , rabies vaccine and most influenza vaccines . Toxoid vaccines are made from inactivated toxic compounds that cause illness rather than

27054-555: The world being published in German. German is most closely related to other West Germanic languages, namely Afrikaans , Dutch , English , the Frisian languages , and Scots . It also contains close similarities in vocabulary to some languages in the North Germanic group , such as Danish , Norwegian , and Swedish . Modern German gradually developed from Old High German , which in turn developed from Proto-Germanic during

27221-600: The written form of German. One of the central events in the development of ENHG was the publication of Luther's translation of the Bible into High German (the New Testament was published in 1522; the Old Testament was published in parts and completed in 1534). Luther based his translation primarily on the Meißner Deutsch of Saxony , spending much time among the population of Saxony researching

27388-429: Was a "neutral" language as there were virtually no English native speakers in Namibia at that time. German, Afrikaans, and several indigenous languages thus became "national languages" by law, identifying them as elements of the cultural heritage of the nation and ensuring that the state acknowledged and supported their presence in the country. Today, Namibia is considered to be the only German-speaking country outside of

27555-547: Was an artificial standard that did not correspond to any traditional spoken dialect. Rather, it was based on the pronunciation of German in Northern Germany, although it was subsequently regarded often as a general prescriptive norm, despite differing pronunciation traditions especially in the Upper-German-speaking regions that still characterise the dialect of the area today – especially

27722-492: Was established on the basis of public speaking in theatres and the media during the 20th century and documented in pronouncing dictionaries. Official revisions of some of the rules from 1901 were not issued until the controversial German orthography reform of 1996 was made the official standard by governments of all German-speaking countries. Media and written works are now almost all produced in Standard German which

27889-448: Was used as an adjuvant for anthrax vaccine. This produces a more rapid immune response than giving only the anthrax vaccine, which is of some benefit if exposure might be imminent. Vaccines may also contain preservatives to prevent contamination with bacteria or fungi . Until recent years, the preservative thiomersal ( a.k.a. Thimerosal in the US and Japan) was used in many vaccines that did not contain live viruses. As of 2005,

#370629