I believe the answer to your question, or at least the direction you want for your question has to do with how the immune system recognizes and responds to a new virus.
Might want to ask things like: How do antibodies work? Because then you’d get an answer along the lines of: When a B-lymphocyte encounters a new antigen, it engulfs it, digests it, and then displays fragments of the antigen on it’s surface (like when you kill an orc and stick its head on a pike outside the castle). The B-lymphocyte then, as part of its natural lifecycle, divides through normal meitosis with the help of a T-lymphocyte, resulting in an identical copy with the new antigen material on its surface, blah blah blah and also a bunch of little antibidies are produced that will bind to anything that looks like the antigen fragment that ended up on the surface of the B-lymphocyte. In other words, B-cells come from the manufacturer (you) with a set of default piked monster heads–might call that something like “inherited immunity/resistance” and are very active in adding more monster heads as new ones are encountered. The B-cell, meantime, is churning out warriors whose sole purpose is to hunt for and grab onto a specific monster.
And yes, monsters breed like rats. But they can’t typically breed faster than the rate at which B-cells train warriors. An exception is when a virus attacks B-cells or T-cells directly (as opposed to favoring some other tissue). Because those monsters directly attack the mechanism that creates antibodies (training camps). And while that machinery repairs itself pretty quickly, it’s a tougher war to win if the viruses get the upper hand and start beating down the training camps as soon as they’re established. HIV does that. And it’s interesting to not that HIV doesn’t kill you directly. It just eliminates your ability to defend yourself from other monsters.
Anyway, see the last half of lazybratsche’s post. Basically, yes, your immune system CAN produce antibodies at a faster pace than viruseses can reproduce. And that’s why a cold isn’t rapidly fatal to an organism (it IS rapidly fatal to the first target cells it encounters).
Thanks for that.
I assumed that something along those lines was happening - I’m just surprised that the immune system can mount such an effective defense so quickly.
Is this why certain diseases are so deadly (Ebola, Spanish Flu)? Do they reproduce faster than a less virulent infection? Or, do they target a wider range of cells, resulting in more systemic damage?
Ebola, for one, tricks the immune system by secreting a protein that keeps neutrophils (cops) from identifying it as a monster.
The 1918 Spanish flu virus preferred lung tissue. It stimulated the immune system to produce less interferon than usual and so was able to take a firmer hold during early infection. Eventually the immune system changes tactics and, rather than hunt down the beasts individually it kills infected cells to prevent further replication. This resulted in massive damage to lung tissue which either killed the host directly or invited secondary bacterial infection. Ironically, those people with the strongest immune systems were the hardest hit because they were able to get really busy destroying the infected tissues.
In both cases, the immune system isn’t overwhelmed, it’s tricked into insufficient and/or improper response.
At this point, there’s not a whole lot more we can easily tell you. (I say we just because I have some of this knowledge, though I admit I haven’t been too active in the “passing it on” department) If you want a lot more detail than what’s already been posted, you’re in danger of having to learn immunology, which is a huge and exhausting topic. I’ve had more than one college-level or higher class on immunology. It’s all so interconnected that it’s hard to just give a simple answer to a simple question. Antibodies do this because B cells are doing this, and they’re stimulated by these other cells over here, and they start this complement cascade, which activates these guys over here, who are rearranging their DNA like so, which helps because of the other, etc, etc.
Ebola is very successful - it has successfully survived in it’s host population for millennia. Humans haven’t even figured out what the host population is yet (but is is probably bats, who seem to be asymptomatic when infected). Human and primate infection is often fatal, but humans are not the reservoir population for ebola.
has to do with how the immune system recognizes and responds to a new virus.