Pathophysiology

Pathophysiology

Introduction

The immune system in the human body is a system of biological processes and structures within an organism that protects against disease. The core purpose of this paper is to identify and discuss the important factors that are essential components of the immune system of the human organism. The paper will be discussing the importance of primary and secondary immune response, the case of giving MMR vaccine to a child with primary immunodeficiency, and the functions of catecholamines and cortisol in the human body. A brief discussion about these important subjects will be presented in this paper.

Primary and Secondary Immune Response

Primary and secondary responses are the response of the immune system to the antigens. Primary immune response is the first response to the antigen. It is the response of the immune system which occurs when it encounters the antigens for the very first time. The primary response of the immune system can take up to fourteen days to resolve. The resolving time depends to the site of the entry of antigen and the nature of the antigen. The primary response leads to the generation and formation of memory cells, which have a high amount of specificity for the antigen that has been induced (Perry, 2006).

The secondary response refers to the response of the body to the same antigen which the body has encountered previously. The body already has the memory B cells and the memory T cells. It has been observe d that the secondary response of both the B and T cells is observed following subsequent encounter with the same antigen. It has also been studied that the secondary response is more rapid in activating the memory cells that were previously generated. It has been studied that it becomes easier for the body to encounter the bacteria or ...