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IMMUNITY

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10 views1 page

IMMUNITY

Uploaded by

lolohmathers
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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IMMUNITY

This is the body’s response against infection or foreign substances to prevent somebody from falling
sick.

Types of immunity

1. Natural acquired immunity


2. Artificial acquired immunity

Natural acquired immunity

(a) Immunity developing after an infection


When a disease causing microorganism invades a person’s body, the lymphocytes produce
antibodies which attack and destroy the germ
 These antibodies may stay in the blood for a long time and ready to attack the same kind of
germ when it invades the body again
 The lymphocytes may recognize the germ faster in the next infection and respond faster to
destroy it
(b) The antibodies may be passed from mother to child across the placenta or in breast milk which
offers temporary protection against infection

Artificial acquired immunity

(a) Immunity developing after vaccination


A vaccine is a chemical substance prepared using a harmless form of the germ [e.g. bacteria or
virus] introduced through injection or orally [swallowing] to protect a person against a disease.
This will provoke lymphocytes to produce antibodies.

Vaccines can be prepared using the following ways;


 Using a harmless form of the microorganism [attenuated organisms]
 Killed microorganism
 A toxoid – an inactivated toxin from the germ

(b) A person may be given serum containing antibodies from another person who recovered from
the disease or prepared from other organisms of different species e.g. horses

Why some people do not become immune to some diseases

This is because some disease causing microorganisms change form more often, making it difficult for
antibodies produced in the first infection to attack those in the next infection , as they will be of a
different form.

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