health and disease
Defence against Disease and the Immune System
In this essay I have distinguished clearly between active/ passive, natural/artificial immunity and described some methods of vaccine production. I have critically compared the effectiveness of the smallpox vaccination programme with programmes aimed at control of measles, polio, influenza, malaria and cholera.
Introduction
(Immune System, 2012) “The immune system is made up of a network of cells, tissues, and organs that work together to protect the body.” This means that the function of the immune system is to protect the body against communicable organisms or substances which may cause harm to the body by attacking the system and causing a disease. To protect the body, the immune system is composed of tissues, cells and organs which these work alongside each other to protect the body against diseases or other damaging foreign bodies. The immune system has the capability of recognizing several of threats, including parasites, bacteria and viruses, by identifying non-self substances which is often referred to as antigens. .
The immune system has 3 lines of defence, which fights against foreign pathogens: 1st line of defence is made of physical and chemical barriers. This line of defence is called a passive immunity, as it prevents pathogens from entering primarily into the body. These barriers take place at the openings to the outer surface of the body, e.g. when a wound is opened, it can also occur at the skin. Barriers like the first line defence are non-specific immune responses; meaning when a foreign object tries to enter the body the response will attack anything. An example of the physical barrier is the skin; the skin is a hard external layer which can prevent any microorganisms from entering through the skin. Another example is the trachea, which has ciliated epithelial cells, (Indge, B 2003, PG.60) “Cilia continuously waft a mixture of mucus and trapped particles away from the
In this essay I have distinguished clearly between active/ passive, natural/artificial immunity and described some methods of vaccine production. I have critically compared the effectiveness of the smallpox vaccination programme with programmes aimed at control of measles, polio, influenza, malaria and cholera.
Introduction
(Immune System, 2012) “The immune system is made up of a network of cells, tissues, and organs that work together to protect the body.” This means that the function of the immune system is to protect the body against communicable organisms or substances which may cause harm to the body by attacking the system and causing a disease. To protect the body, the immune system is composed of tissues, cells and organs which these work alongside each other to protect the body against diseases or other damaging foreign bodies. The immune system has the capability of recognizing several of threats, including parasites, bacteria and viruses, by identifying non-self substances which is often referred to as antigens. .
The immune system has 3 lines of defence, which fights against foreign pathogens: 1st line of defence is made of physical and chemical barriers. This line of defence is called a passive immunity, as it prevents pathogens from entering primarily into the body. These barriers take place at the openings to the outer surface of the body, e.g. when a wound is opened, it can also occur at the skin. Barriers like the first line defence are non-specific immune responses; meaning when a foreign object tries to enter the body the response will attack anything. An example of the physical barrier is the skin; the skin is a hard external layer which can prevent any microorganisms from entering through the skin. Another example is the trachea, which has ciliated epithelial cells, (Indge, B 2003, PG.60) “Cilia continuously waft a mixture of mucus and trapped particles away from the
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