• Question: How does sickness form in you body?

    Asked by 286heam38 to Fiona on 26 Feb 2018.
    • Photo: Fiona Freeman

      Fiona Freeman answered on 26 Feb 2018:


      What we would call the common cold is a virus, a virus can attack our cells and when this happens we get sick or flu like symptoms such as runny nose, fever, or cough. This is the reaction of the cells in our body to the virus. For example the runny nose is caused by a build up of mucous in our nose to trap the virus and expel it out. The fever is cause to heat the body up to destroy the virus. And finally the cough is allowing us to cough back out the virus. These are stall tactics to give the body time to produce the antibodies needed to destroy the virus. These reactions are started by our immune response. There are cells in our body called T cells who’s whole job is to seek out the virus, and to make the antibodies needed to defeat the virus. This can take time but once the body has produced the antibody needed to defeat that particular virus it can produce them time and time again. That’s why once you get one strain or cold you will never get sick due to that virus again.

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