Fighting Disease Flashcards
How does your body prevent infection?
C - cilia
H - hairs
A - acid
S - skin
M - mucus
How does cilia prevent disease?
wafts away mucus to move microogranisms out of lungs
How do hairs prevent disease?
traps droplets, preventing pathogen entry
How does acid prevent disease?
kills pathogens that are killed in the stomach
How does skin prevent disease?
acts a barrier to prevent pathogen entry
How does mucus prevent disease?
traps pathogens before they can enter lungs
What happens when a pathogen infects you?
White blood cells will resbond y either:
phagocytosis (engulfing) to kill
produce antibodies to kill
produce antitoxins to neutralise toxins
What is an antigen?
a special protein label
has a specific shape to identify a certain pathogen
antibodies are made to be specific to an antigen (antibodies have binding sites)
WHat happens when a WBC encounters a foreign antigen?
will start to produce antibodies
