What are some examples of immunological memory?
1 Answer
Let's say that you were exposed to measles as a youngster.
All you remember is the horrible rash and feeling awful.
Well, your body will 'remember' that encounter, for years to come.
Explanation:
Why is this? Once the specific branch of immunity is activated, the T and B Cells get to work. They divide rapidly to do their jobs. One of their jobs is to form 'memory' T and B cells. So, next time that same invader comes along, those memory cells will hopefully detect it in time.
Other examples: Mumps virus; chickenpox virus; vaccines for all of these; many (not all) infections that you recover from, like measles and certain pneumonias, will not be able to infect you again for varying lengths of time.
This is all due to the memory cells 'wiping out' the invader before a second infection can take place.
Vaccines--those 'shots' we hear about in the news--are the best and yes, the safest way to avoid much disease.
The flu vaccine (yearly, because the virus changes); the pneumonia vaccine; and in many humans throughout history, smallpox left them with immunological memory (if they survived the smallpox).
