Immune system - what happens when you vaccinate

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Every person breathes in foreign bodies with the air every day, ingests them while eating and drinking or comes into contact with them through physical contact. Billions of immune cells fight these invaders. The body can keep most of them in check. However, some pathogens are so aggressive that they not only make you sick, but also leave permanent damage behind. Vaccinations strengthen the immune system and help it to arm itself against certain infectious diseases.

Complex backup

The human immune system is a complex network of specialized and general security systems. Both are in constant contact. The main function of the immune system is to differentiate between "own" and "foreign" and to defend the body against foreign substances and pathogens. The immune system includes the thymus, spleen, bone marrow, lymph nodes, tonsils and the lymphatic tissue of the intestine. Immune cells are found in almost all tissues in the body.

Nonspecific defense

If a foreign body penetrates, the unspecific defense first becomes active. This group of cells includes neutrophils, monocytes and macrophages. They are attracted by chemical messenger substances and try to "eat up" the foreign substances. The natural killer cells (NK cells) can perforate cell walls and are primarily specialized in rendering tumor cells and viruses harmless. In addition, these cells produce messenger substances (cytokines) that attract more immune cells.

Specific defense

The specific components of the immune system are more highly developed. They are able to learn, adapt and remember. Lymphocytes play an important role in this. They can be divided into two main groups: T cells and the B cells.

T cells play an important role in regulating and controlling immune responses. Activated B cells (plasma cells) produce antibodies. Lymphocytes are activated when cells of the unspecific defense system present features of the invaded germ on their surface.

After an infection, some of the cells remain as memory cells, i.e. the cells "remember" this germ. If the body comes into contact with the pathogen again, it has a much more efficient and faster immune response thanks to the memory cells. In this way, the pathogen can be fought before it becomes ill.

Immune system revved up

This ability of our immune system is used in the vaccinations. With active vaccination, weakened pathogens or typical proteins and sugar molecules are introduced into the body as vaccines. They can no longer trigger a disease, but they still activate the specific and unspecific immune system. In this case too, the body produces specific antibodies and memory cells.

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