on increasing the plasmid's immunogenicity while also correcting for factors involved in the specific activation of immune effector cells. Bacterial vector – Similar in principle to viral vector vaccines, but using bacteria instead. Antigen-presenting cell While most vaccines are created using inactivated or attenuated compounds from micro-organisms, synthetic vaccines are composed mainly or wholly of synthetic peptides, carbohydrates, or antigens. Valence Vaccines may be monovalent (also called univalent) or multivalent (also called polyvalent). A monovalent vaccine 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 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 the amount of serotype2 virus in the vaccine had to be reduced to stop it from interfering with the "take" of the serotype1 and3 viruses in the vaccine. This phenomenon has also been found to be a problem with the dengue vaccines currently being researched, where the DEN-3 serotype was found to predominate and suppress the response to DEN-1, -2 and -4 serotypes. Other contents Adjuvants Vaccines typically contain one or more adjuvants, used to boost 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 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. Preservatives Vaccines may also contain preservatives to prevent contamination with bacteria or fungi. Until recent years, the preservative