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| Relation between Covid - 19 and body immune system | | | Dr. Rajkumar Singh | 4/7/2020 9:04:56 PM |
| The immune system is a network of cells, tissues, and organs that work together to protect the body from infection. It is generally divided into innate and adaptive immunity. Innate immunity occurs immediately, when circulating innate cells recognize a problem. Adaptive immunity occurs later, as it relies on the coordination and expansion of specific adaptive immune cells. The immune system is generally tolerant of self-antigens, so it does not usually attack the body's own cells, tissues, and organs. However, when tolerance is lost, disorders like autoimmune disease or food allergy occur. Complications arise when the immune system does not function properly. Some issues are less pervasive, such as pollen allergy, while others are extensive, such as genetic disorders that wipe out the presence or function of an entire set of immune cells. The combination of new technology and expanded genetic information promises to reveal more about how the body protects itself from disease. In turn, scientists can use this information to develop new strategies for the prevention and treatment of infectious and immune-mediated diseases. People who contract SARS-CoV-2 and develop COVID-19 can experience serious side effects. Severe cases can lead to death. Doctors don't yet know exactly why some people who contract SARS-CoV-2 develop severe COVID-19, while others do not. Vulnerable members of society, such as older adults and people with some chronic health conditions, could get very sick if they're exposed to this virus. Otherwise healthy and younger people may become very ill with COVID-19. Social distancing and frequent handwashing are currently the only ways to help prevent us and those around us from contracting and potentially spreading SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.
Types of immunity and complications
There are two types of immunity- natural and herd. Natural immunity occurs when you become immune to a specific disease after contracting it. This triggers your immune system to make antibodies against the germ causing the infection inside of you. Antibodies are like special bodyguards that only recognize certain germs. If you contract it again, the antibodies that dealt with the germ before can attack it before it spreads and makes you ill. Natural immunity can help create herd immunity, but it doesn't work as well as vaccinations. Herd immunity can help stop the spread of illness, such as swine flu, and other pandemics within an entire country. But it can change without anyone knowing. Also, it doesn't always guarantee protection against any disease. We can help build herd immunity to certain diseases in our community by making sure that our family have up-to-date vaccinations. Herd immunity may not always protect every individual in the community, but it could help prevent widespread disease.
Complications arise when the immune system does not function properly. Some issues are less pervasive, such as pollen allergy, while others are extensive, such as genetic disorders that wipe out the presence or function of an entire set of immune cells. Immune deficiencies may be temporary or permanent. Temporary immune deficiency can be caused by a variety of sources that weaken the immune system. Common infections, including influenza and mononucleosis, can suppress the immune system. When immune cells are the target of infection, severe immune suppression can occur. For example, HIV specifically infects T cells, and their elimination allows for secondary infections by other pathogens. Patients receiving chemotherapy, bone marrow transplants, or immunosuppressive drugs experience weakened immune systems until immune cell levels are restored. Pregnancy also suppresses the maternal immune system, increasing susceptibility to infections by common microbes. In the context, autoimmune diseases occur when self-tolerance is broken. Self-tolerance breaks when adaptive immune cells that recognize host cells persist unchecked. B cells may produce antibodies targeting host cells, and active T cells may recognize self-antigen. This amplifies when they recruit and activate other immune cells. Autoimmunity is either organ-specific or systemic, meaning it affects the whole body. Autoimmune diseases have a strong genetic component, and with advances in gene sequencing tools, we would be able to have a better understanding to specific diseases.
Vulnerable group of society
Therefore, all healthy adults, teens, and older children would need to be vaccinated to provide herd immunity for people who can't get the vaccine or who are too ill to become naturally immune to it. If we are vaccinated and build immunity against SARS-CoV-2, we most likely wouldn't contract the virus or transmit it. It is community or group protection that happens when a critical number of the population is immune to a certain disease. However, the safest way to get immunity is through vaccination. Herd immunity isn't the answer to stopping the spread of SARS-CoV-2, the new coronavirus that causes COVID-19. Once a vaccine is developed for this virus, establishing herd immunity is one way to help protect people in the community who are vulnerable or have low functioning immune systems.
There are also many reasons why herd immunity won't yet work to stop or slow the spread of SARS-CoV-2 or COVID-19, the disease caused by an infection of the new coronavirus. When a large percentage of the population becomes immune to a disease, the spread of that disease slows down or stops. Many viral and bacterial infections spread from person to person. This chain is broken when most people don't get or transmit the infection. This helps protect people who aren't vaccinated or who have low functioning immune systems and may develop an infection more easily, such as: older adults,babies, young children, pregnant women, people with weakened immune systems and people with certain health conditions For some diseases, herd immunity can go into effect when 40 percent of the people in a population become immune to the disease, such as through vaccination. But in most cases, 80 to 95 percent of the population must be immune to the disease to stop its spread. For example, 19 out of every 20 people must have the measles vaccination for herd immunity to go into effect and stop the disease. The percentage of people that must have immunity to safely slow or stop an infectious disease is called the "herd immunity threshold."
Moving forward for solution
Natural immunity occurs when you become immune to a specific disease after contracting it. This triggers your immune system to make antibodies against the germ causing the infection inside of you. Antibodies are like special bodyguards that only recognize certain germs..If we contract it again, the antibodies that dealt with the germ before can attack it before it spreads and makes us ill. Although natural immunity can help create herd immunity, but it doesn't work as well as vaccinations. Herd immunity can help stop the spread of illness, such as swine flu, and other pandemics within an entire country. But it can change without anyone knowing. Also, it doesn't always guarantee protection against any disease. For most healthy people, herd immunity isn't a good alternative to getting vaccinated.Not every illness that has a vaccine can be stopped by herd immunity. Scientists are currently working on a vaccine for SARS-CoV-2. If we have a vaccine, we may be able to develop herd immunity against this virus in the future. |
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