Antibiotics are the closest thing to a medical “magic bullet” that we have ever invented. Many bacterial infections that could kill us can be completely cured by antibiotics.

It is frustrating that we can’t use antibiotics to treat all infections. But it’s true! They just don’t work on infections that aren’t caused by bacteria. When it comes to fighting viruses the best weapons we have are vaccines.

Our natural defence against viruses is a sophisticated espionage system – the immune system. We have a host of cellular spies lying in wait for a virus to invade our body, when they will raise the alarm triggering a domino effect of armed forces ready to attack.

The problem is that viruses are a cunning enemy and our body takes too long to raise its forces to a virus it has never seen before. It is this delay that gives the virus a chance to get the upper hand, leaving us feeling rotten.

But imagine if our spies had leaked intelligence allowing us to raise an army to a whole range of viruses. That before we had ever been infected we were armed and ready to fight. Enter the Vaccine.

Vaccines are the ultimate intelligence in the fight against disease. By giving our body a safe copy of viruses like measles (think queues outside that clinic in Swansea), hepatitis and flu our immune system can prepare a raft of cellular spies and armed forces ready to fight at the first sight of the real thing.

This technique of priming our immune system with a vaccine works for bacterial and parasite infections as well as viruses.

Our local scientists are leading the world in the race to develop vaccines for malaria and HIV using this same technique. Whooping cough and tuberculosis are all so responsive to vaccines that they have basically disappeared as medical problems. Or have they?

I personally know two families who have suffered the loss of a child from whooping cough and that is just the beginning.

We are seeing huge increases in the number of people infected and dying from preventable diseases.

This is because vaccines have suffered some bad press. Stories spread far and wide in the media with no evidence to support false claims.

The result of this has been a steep drop in the number of people vaccinated, letting those diseases take up residence in our communities again. We need at least 85 per cent of people in any one place to be vaccinated to stop infectious diseases getting a foot in our door.

The other issue with vaccines is that they can wear off. It is worth having a chat with your doctor about boosters for things like whooping cough, even as an adult, and particularly if you are in contact with babies who are not yet old enough to be vaccinated.

Vaccines are incredibly effective preventative medicines. They have single handedly saved hundreds of thousands of people from a miserable, painful death. Would you deny someone antibiotics for a disease that you knew could be cured?

A moment of discomfort seems a small price to pay for peace of mind.