How does your body remember a virus?
A virus gets into a cell and starts copying itself. Immune cells find and destroy the infected cells, and antibodies latch onto the viruses. Then memory cells stay behind for years, so the next fight against the same virus is over before you feel sick.
Transcript
How can your body remember something you've forgotten? A virus sneaks into your body. It gets inside one of your cells. And turns it into a virus factory.
Your body sounds the alarm! B cells look for the right fit. Click! This one fits like a key. It copies itself and makes antibodies.
Antibodies grab the virus and block it. Killer T cells take out infected cells. It takes days, so you feel sick. Virus gone, you feel better!
Most of the fighters fade away. But memory cells stay behind. You forget being sick, they don't. Then the same virus comes back.
Memory cells know it instantly. Antibodies flood out super fast. Gone, often before you even feel sick. Fight once, remember it, win faster next time.
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