n.
Bacterial toxin that has been made inactive but can still combine with or stimulate formation of antibodies .
In many bacterial diseases, the bacteria produce a toxin that causes the disease manifestations. Heating the toxin or treating it chemically converts it into a harmless toxoid that can be injected into a human or a nonhuman animal to confer immunity from subsequent infection . The vaccine s for tetanus and diphtheria are toxoids.