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Here, the immune system adapts its response during an infection to improve its recognition of the pathogen. This improved response is then retained after the pathogen has been eliminated, in the form of an immunological memory, and allows the adaptive immune system to mount faster and stronger attacks each time this pathogen is encountered. [4] [5]
An immune response is a physiological reaction which occurs within an organism in the context of inflammation for the purpose of defending against exogenous factors. These include a wide variety of different toxins, viruses, intra- and extracellular bacteria, protozoa, helminths, and fungi which could cause serious problems to the health of the host organism if not cleared from the body.
After the virus enters the body there is a period of rapid viral replication, leading to an abundance of virus in the peripheral blood. During primary infection, the level of HIV may reach several million virus particles per milliliter of blood. [2] This response is accompanied by a marked drop in the numbers of circulating CD4 + T cells.
Innate immune system cells prevent free growth of microorganisms within the body, but many pathogens have evolved mechanisms to evade it. [ 21 ] [ 22 ] One strategy is intracellular replication, as practised by Mycobacterium tuberculosis , or wearing a protective capsule, which prevents lysis by complement and by phagocytes, as in Salmonella ...
In immunology, autoimmunity is the system of immune responses of an organism against its own healthy cells, tissues and other normal body constituents. [1] [2] Any disease resulting from this type of immune response is termed an "autoimmune disease".
The term inflammation is not a synonym for infection. Infection describes the interaction between the action of microbial invasion and the reaction of the body's inflammatory response—the two components are considered together in discussion of infection, and the word is used to imply a microbial invasive cause for the observed inflammatory ...
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Infections can be caused by a wide range of pathogens, most prominently bacteria and viruses. [2] Hosts can fight infections using their immune systems. Mammalian hosts react to infections with an innate response, often involving inflammation, followed by an adaptive response. Treatment for infections depends on the type of pathogen involved.