The Beautiful Immune System Lesson 3: What is an Antigen?
A bacterial pathogen with its antigen in blue. Something that is foreign to your body and that induces an immune response or is the target of an immune response is...
Diphtheria, Tetanus, and acellular Pertussis (DTaP) Vaccine
The DTaP vaccine protects your child from getting tetanus (lockjaw), diphtheria, and acellular pertussis (whooping cough). All three of these are potentially life-threatening bacterial infections. Tetanus The bacteria the causes...
The Beautiful Immune System Lesson 2: Protective Immunity
When our bodies become sick with a virus, bacteria, fungi, parasite, etc., our adaptive immune system, the one that "remembers" microbes, not only fights off the microbe but creates protective...
The Beautiful Immune System Lesson 1: The Two Types of Immunity: Innate and Adaptive
We classify all of the body's immune reactions into two types of immunity: innate and adaptive. Under each category are many players and thousands of complex systems. Right now, I...
Varicella (chickenpox) Vaccine
I don't know about you, but I REMEMBER getting the chickenpox as a young child. It was itchy and awful. And oatmeal baths! Oh, the oatmeal baths!! Because this is...