INTRODUCTION TO IMMUNOLOGY

We are surrounded by millions of microorganisms. Nowadays we know that lots of those microorganisms aren’t dangerous for us, even some of them had been adapted to living being organisms and live in their skin, respiratory ducts ... those microorganisms are called normal flora, and they are very important for human live.

In the other hand, we find a kind of microorganisms called pathogens microorganisms or germs. Those microorganisms get into living being’s organism and develop some harmful effects, which are the cause of an infectious illness. That illness will result mortal if there wasn’t a continue fight of immune system’s elements.

DEFENSIVE UNSPECIFIC MECHANISMS

All the organisms have mechanism that difficult or don’t let the germs invade our organism. There are two defensive systems: the unspecific that are constituted by the skin or secretions, and the specifics represented by the immune system.

In the unspecific defensive system the microorganisms have to cross  two different kinds of   barriers : the primary and secondary  barriers.

The primary barriers are those which we can find in the entire organism, like the skin or the secretions.  When the microorganisms are able to cross the primary barrier it is said that the secondary barrier. This defensive mechanism acts inside the organism it is build by the blood cells called phagocytes and the immune system. The phagocytes are different kinds of white blood cells which are able to attack the germs; phagocytes eat the germs and then their liposome, cellular organelles that are able to eat every microorganism. Usually phagocytes destroy those microorganisms, however sometimes the phagocytes are destroyed by them.

IMMUNE SYSTEM

The immune system is a group of organic elements like cells, organs and protein molecules presents in  blood... that with different mechanisms constitute the organism’s defence of microorganisms potentially dangerous.

This system has the capacity to detect those microorganisms and develop different mechanism to neutralize and destroy them.