The human immune system has evolved ways of preventing pathogens from going where they don't belong and destroying them when they do. In order to cause disease, the pathogen entering the body must reproduce in sufficient numbers before it is overwhelmed by the body's immune response. Once the battle between the pathogen and the immune response has begun, the result determines whether the outcome is sickness or health. To increase the odds in its favor, the immune system, like a police detective, learns the specific modi operandi of the likely suspects. Your immune system's ability to recognize millions of different microbes that may enter the body is a key to its success.
Although there are many different types of microbes, once inside the body, they all begin to reproduce -- either inside or outside human cells. Your immune system needs to recognize which method the microbe uses to reproduce, in order to prevent an infection or tip the balance in your favor once an infection is under way.
The human immune system has evolved ways of preventing pathogens
from going where they don't belong and destroying them when they
do. In order to cause disease, the pathogen entering the body must
reproduce in sufficient numbers before it is...
More
Dr. Anthony Komaroff answered:The human immune system has evolved ways of preventing pathogens from going where they don't belong and destroying them when they do. In order to cause disease, the pathogen entering the body must reproduce in sufficient numbers before it is overwhelmed by the body's immune response. Once the battle between the pathogen and the immune response has begun, the result determines whether the outcome is sickness or health. To increase the odds in its favor, the immune system, like a police detective, learns the specific modi operandi of the likely suspects. Your immune system's ability to recognize millions of different microbes that may enter the body is a key to its success.
