Immunity is the ability of the body to interfere with the activity of bacteria, toxins and other harmful substances. Now distinguish such types of immunity as congenital and acquired, which in turn are divided into other forms, depending on the state of the organism and the conditions of development.
The main types of human immunity
Immunity plays the role of a protective barrier that separates a person from the environment. Its main task is to preserve the health of the body and its normal vital activity.
The main types of immunity are hereditary and acquired, which are divided into:
- active;
- passive.
Innate immunity, also called humoral, is associated with the characteristics of the body, which are transmitted at birth by inheritance.
The active form develops after getting rid of diseases. In this case, the immune memory is formed to a specific bacterium.
Passive form is formed during fetal development during the transport of antibodies from mother to child, in which the mental state and the environment play an important role.
Acquired protective abilities are developed throughout life. The acquired immune system of a person also implies the presence of such immunity types as active and passive.
With an active form of immunity begins to work after the disease.
Passive is acquired as a result of vaccination or the introduction of therapeutic serum, resulting in such types of immunity:
- life;
- temporary.
Vaccine is a kind of immunity
An artificial form is also called post-vaccination, as it is formed after the use of vaccines produced from bacterial cells, resulting in the formation of protective antibodies.
Active immunity is characterized by slow production, within two months. Depending on the speed of formation of protective functions, all people can be divided by type of immunity into:
- very fast - from two weeks;
- slow - from two months or more.
Passive artificial immunity arises in the body in the shortest time and retains its protective properties for 8 weeks. A passive method of immunization produces antibodies faster than the active one. Therefore, immunization is necessary to get rid of anthrax, diphtheria, tetanus and other infections.
If protective functions develop in the process of vital activity, then such immunity and its types are called natural.
The active form has received such a name due to the fact that the body itself develops resistance to foreign bodies. This species is also called infectious immunity, since its formation occurs when the pathogen enters the body and becomes infected.
In addition to these forms, there are several other types of immunity, which are divided into artificial and natural:
- sterile;
- non-sterile.
To a sterile type include such immunity, in which after the cured disease the body gets rid of the pathogen.
Non-sterile is a kind of immune defense, the formation of which is not accompanied by the death of bacteria. This is typical for chronic diseases, such as brucellosis, tuberculosis, syphilis. After the transferred tuberculosis in the body remain mycobacteria, which can be observed for life, thereby forming non-sterile immunity. While the causative agent will remain viable, there will be a protective barrier to the body. When a foreign organism dies, a loss of non-sterile immunity occurs.