Communicable diseases Flashcards
What is an immune system ?
Helps protect our body from foreign pathogens
What are the types of pathogens ?
Viruses
Bacteria
Protists
Fungi
Difference between bacteria and viruses ?
Bacteria and fungi are living
Viruses are non living
Protists are in the middle
They all cause disease
What is a pathogen ?
Any organism that causes disease
What are primary defences ?
acid in body
Hairs in nose
Skin
Platelets
What is a myeloid? Non specific defences
Includes neutrophils
Phagocytosis
Monocytes
Example of non specific defence
Myeloids
What is an autoimmune disease
Autoimmune disease happens when the body’s natural defense system can’t tell the difference between your own cells and foreign cells, causing the body to mistakenly attack normal cells
What can antibodies do?
Opsonisation
Agglutination
neutralisation
What is opsonisation?
Opsonization is an immune process which uses opsonins to tag foreign pathogens for elimination by phagocytes
What is agglutination?
The agglutination indicates that the blood has reacted with a certain antibody and is therefore not compatible with blood containing that kind of antibody.
What is neutralisation?
the ability of antibodies to block the site(s) on bacteria or viruses that they use to enter their target cell
Properties of an antibody?
- Y shaped protein
- made out of two key sectors
- Quaternary protein
-Light and heavy chain
Two stages of B cells
1- differentiation
2- proliferation
Bacteria mode of action
Produce toxins
