I forgot to mention something in this last post:
"Justin Cobb" <jacobb at uiuc.edu> wrote in message
news:CtuP4.13338$nb2.277116 at vixen.cso.uiuc.edu...
> If the slightly different strain is so similar to the original strain that
> the immune system would react as though it has seen it before, the same
> antibodies would probably bind to the slightly different virus just as it
> would to the original. When the immune system produces B-cells specific
to
> a specific antigen, they will remain for a fairly long time. If the body
is
> invaded by an antigen that fits in the same antigen-binding site later on
> whether it is the same antigen or one that is very similar, the B-cells
will
> produce antibodies as soon as they "detect" the antigen. This is known as
> immune "memory." Immune memory will not be activated (i.e., the antigen
> will not be recognized as something that the immune system has "seen"
> before) if the antigen does not bind to the receptors on a B-cell (I think
> they are called membrane-bound antibodies, but I'm not certain.) because
the
> B-cell for a specific antigen is not produced until that antigen is
> introduced to the body.
The phenomenon of an antibody binding to a very similar antigen that is
different to that of its "preferred" antigen is called a cross-reaction.
This is why someone allergic to asprin or salicylates should not take
ibuprofen. The antibody (specifically an IgE) for asprin also binds to
ibuprofen due to certain similarities in chemical structure.
>>> --
> Justin Cobb
> Sophomore, Biology-General
> University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
> School of Life Sciences
>>RSAMSON18 at cs.com> wrote in message news:13.4aafaff.263fb59c at cs.com...> > What I was suggesting in my original posting is if one is vaccinated for
> one
> > of the
> > Type A strain of virus and what comes along is a very slightly different
> > strain of the
> > Type A virus, the immune system may think "I've seen this before" and
not
> try
> > to
> > produce new antibodies until too late. This may only happen rarely and
> only
> > with the
> > devilish flu virus. I still consider it a possibility mainly based on
the
> > results, which
> > was that the outbreak was much more severe on a very high percentage of
> those
> > were vaccinated.
> > Ralph L. Samson
> > ---
>>
