Final answer:
The vaccine category in question is associated with vaccines that might offer limited benefits in comparison to their potential side effects and are used for diseases that are of low severity or can be treated easily. These often include vaccines that have demonstrated minimal efficacy in real-world applications or that carry a relatively higher risk of adverse events.
Step-by-step explanation:
The vaccine category mentioned refers to vaccines that are lesser known for their efficacy, potentially causing greater adverse events and being used for diseases of low clinical significance or easy treatment options. These could be vaccines with evidence of minimal field efficacy, or they might pose a higher risk of side effects in comparison to their benefits.
Vaccines are biological preparations that provide acquired immunity to particular infectious diseases. They contain antigens that mimic disease-causing organisms in the body's immune system without causing the full-blown disease. There are different types of vaccines including live attenuated vaccines, which use a weakened form of the pathogen; inactivated vaccines that contain killed pathogens; subunit vaccines which include only parts of the pathogen; and others like toxoid and conjugate vaccines.
Subunit vaccines, in particular, are designed to include only the necessary antigens to stimulate an immune response, reducing the risk of side effects. These vaccines can be developed by isolating specific antigens through genetic engineering or chemical degradation. They are often used for diseases where traditional live or inactivated vaccines may be less effective or carry significant risks, such as in the cases of allergies or varying pathogen strains with high antigenic variability.