Germs Research Paper

Germs, such as bacteria and viruses sometimes enter the body. When this happens, the bacteria or virus attack the body's cells and begin to multiply. When this happens, it is known as an infection which in turn make people ill. Our body uses its immune system to fight of the infection that has began spreading in the body.
Vaccines are used to help our immune system develop an immunity by imitating the infection. This means that there is a small amount of the bacteria or virus introduced to the body but it does not make the person ill. This causes the immune system to create t-lymphocyttes and b-lymphocytes, white blood cells that attack cells that have been infected, and also antibodies. An antibody is a protein that is produced by the immune system when it has found a harmful substance known as an antigen. An antigen is
HIV works by weakening the immune system. HIV is spread in many ways. This can include having unprotected sex, receiving transfussions of unscreened blood, contaminated needles, and from a mother to her child during pregnancy, childbirth, or breastfeeding. Once a person is infected with HIV, they have the virus for life. An infected person may not know that they are infected and look and feel healthy for many years, although they can still transmit the virus to others unknowingly. The only way that a person can find out for certain if they have the virus or not is through a lab test that searches for the virus. A person can be given antiretroviral treatments to slow down the process of the HIV infection. The medications given during antiretroviral treatments are expensive and not available to many people in the developing world. When a person is left untreated, there is about eight to ten years between the time of infection and the virus developing into AIDS. Once the virus develops into AIDS, many people do not live longer than two years after it has