Immunity system complexity (Introduction)

by David Turell , Sunday, June 21, 2020, 15:08 (1404 days ago) @ dhw

DAVID: The first bold is correct with the word you used 'answers'. Immune cells always follow on board instructions to create a library of answers which are remembered as antibodies or direct engulfing and digesting.

dhw: Thank you. I don’t know why you now try to muddy the waters with your “on board instructions”. Each new disease is a new question, and the answers (antibodies) don’t come into existence until the new disease has struck. The answers will then form instructions on how to tackle the disease, and these are remembered. What other “instructions” are you referring to?

Still struggling for cell intelligence. All the immunity cells have standardized built-in reactions to invaders. The antibodies produced are from reactions to antigens (specific molecules) on the surface of the infective organism. The fact that they are standardized means the odd hard-to-control diseases I have mentioned exist.

DAVID: In regard to corona, survivors have high level of antibodies and their serum has been used successfully in treatment. The second bold applies only to the partially successful responses I have listed. The newborn baby come fully prepared for a lifetime fight. Colostrum is an additional advantage for those who are nursed, but unnursed babies do just as well. In AIDS the human immune system itself is destroyed by the virus. Only the new drugs help. In malaria, I'll remind you, you survived by using your immune system plus medication. But we still need a vaccine.

dhw: This jumble of observations simply proves that the responses are NOT all there, i.e. the library does NOT “cover all and every infection”, and that is why outside intervention is necessary in the form of drugs.

Yes, as noted above.

QUOTE (under “herd immunity): "From looking at the circulation of measles within island communities, we know it can’t survive for long in places with fewer than about half a million people. This is because it causes lifelong immunity, so once everyone has had it, there are no more hosts to keep it going. Only in larger communities would there be enough new, and therefore susceptible, babies being born for the virus to survive."

dhw: Confirmation that you are not naturally immune to a disease until you have had it – i.e. the library is an on-going accumulation of volumes/answers/instructions.

Yes, to 'volumes, answers'. The cells instructions as to how to respond are fixed and do not change.

DAVID (under HIV:) Avoiding B an T cells and using plasma cells, another line of defense, is a clever approach. A constant stream of antibodies must be produced to cure HIV. So far, none.

dhw: Confirmation that the immune system’s library does not “cover all and every infection”.

Yes, it is able to respond successfully to almost all, but HIV becomes a real problem as the standardized responses don't/can't work.