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Adaptive (or acquired) immunity creates an immunological memory leading to an enhanced response to subsequent encounters with that same pathogen. This process of acquired immunity is the basis of vaccination. Dysfunction of the immune system can cause autoimmune diseases, inflammatory diseases and cancer.
Specific acquired immunity against infectious diseases may be mediated by antibodies and/or T lymphocytes. Immunity mediated by these two factors may be manifested by: a direct effect upon a pathogen, such as antibody-initiated complement-dependent bacteriolysis, opsonoization, phagocytosis and killing, as occurs for some bacteria,
Artificially Acquired Active Immunity – is done by vaccination (introducing dead or weakened antigen to the host's cell). Artificially Acquired Passive Immunity – This involves the introduction of antibodies rather than antigens to the human body. These antibodies are from an animal or person who is already immune to the disease.
A representation of the cholera epidemic of the 19th century. For thousands of years mankind has been intrigued with the causes of disease and the concept of immunity. The prehistoric view was that disease was caused by supernatural forces, and that illness was a form of theurgic punishment for "bad deeds" or "evil thoughts" visited upon the soul by the gods or by one's enemies. [8]
Immunization happens in various ways, both in the wild and as done by human efforts in health care. Natural immunity is gained by those organisms whose immune systems succeed in fighting off a previous infection, if the relevant pathogen is one for which immunization is even possible. Natural immunity can have degrees of effectiveness (partial ...
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to immunology: . Immunology – study of all aspects of the immune system in all organisms. [1] It deals with the physiological functioning of the immune system in states of both health and disease; malfunctions of the immune system in immunological disorders (autoimmune diseases, hypersensitivities, immune deficiency ...
The CDC said the patient's sample showed mutations in the hemagglutinin (HA) gene, the part of the virus that plays a key role in it attaching to host cells. The mutations seen in the patient are ...
Because the human immune system has difficulty recognizing the new influenza strain, it may be highly dangerous, and result in a new pandemic. [ 3 ] Influenza viruses which have undergone antigenic shift have caused the Asian Flu pandemic of 1957, the Hong Kong Flu pandemic of 1968, and the Swine Flu scare of 1976.