Chapter 6
Germs and immunity
Germs try to get in every day, and your body has layers of defence. Skin keeps most of them out, lymph nodes filter them, and antibodies latch onto the ones that get through. A fever slows them down, and vaccines teach your immune system to recognise a germ before you ever meet it. This chapter also covers why antibiotics don't work on colds, how herd immunity protects babies, and the doctor who first asked colleagues to wash their hands.
11 cards
See the 11 cards
- The body's first barrier against germsSkin
- Y-shaped proteins that latch onto germsAntibodies
- Marker on a germ that the immune system spotsAntigen
- Why the body raises its temperature in an infectionTo slow germs down
- Colds and flu are caused by these, so antibiotics failViruses
- What a vaccine trains your body to doRecognise a germ
- Protection for all when most people are immuneHerd immunity
- How long to wash your hands with soapAt least 20 seconds
- Doctor who urged handwashing in 1847Ignaz Semmelweis
- Small glands in your neck that swell when you're illLymph nodes
- Immune reaction to something harmless, like pollenAn allergy