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Asked by shamail155 to Amar, Ana, Andrea, Leah, Matt on 9 Mar 2014.
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Andrea Hanvey answered on 9 Mar 2014:
Our Immune system is comprised of various different types of white blood cells. When a virus or bacteria invade the body, our immune system mounts an attack to fight it off. To ensure we dont suffer the same attack again, special white blood cells known as memory B and T cells are created. so if you were exposed to the chicken pox virus for a second time the memory cell would spring into action! it would make many copies of its self so it can go and attack the virus before you became ill.
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Matthew Lam answered on 10 Mar 2014:
It’s because everyone’s immune system has memory. This is a great defence to have against viruses and bacteria because if helps fight off infections when you get them again.
Chicken pox is caused by a virus, so when your parents got infected with the chicken pox virus their immune system kicked into action and produced lots of these molecules called ‘antibodies’, which help to wipe out the chicken pox. The cells that produce these antibodies are able to remember what chicken pox virus looks like so if your parents get infected again, they can make lots of antibodies very quickly and kill off the virus before your parents get sick.
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Amar Joshi answered on 10 Mar 2014:
Although the other two answers are correct about our immune system, adults can have a second Chicken pox infection. If a new strain of Chicken pox is different enough to the virus that caused them to have Chicken pox when they were younger. One of my co-workers got Chicken pox for a second time when his kid got it!
And even if adults don’t get Chicken pox again, they can get a nasty rash called Shingles that is caused by the Chicken pox virus. When you have had Chicken pox and fought it off, the virus hides in nerve cells for decades. No one really knows what causes it to wake up but the rash can last for a couple of weeks!
Comments
shamail155 commented on :
Thank you