Antibodies and Influenza Vaccines (Nursing)

00:01 So let's talk about antibodies.

00:02 Antibodies are large y-shaped proteins that are produced by the beta cells in the plasma.

00:08 So these are really good protectors because they recognized a bacteria or virus as an antigen but invade your bloodstream and they try to neutralize that antigen.

00:19 So we like antibodies because they never forget, right? They remember they recognize bacteria or viruses and they'll help us fight them off.

00:29 So we talked about Antibodies and vaccines they go hand-in-hand.

00:34 Viruses are really hard to kill without harming the host.

00:38 Bacteria are much easier.

00:41 Most of them some are really difficult.

00:43 But as a general rule, it's harder to get rid of a viral infection than it is a bacterial infection because the viruses are so intertwined with the host.

00:54 Yeah, that's me.

00:54 And you so vaccines are the best way to prevent influenza, so rather than try and treat the influenza after the fact most effective way to deal with influenza is to try to prevent influenza.

01:08 Antibodies are essential, okay.

01:10 This is how our immune systems adapt so I don't just want to breathe over that word better immune systems are adaptive is killer.

01:20 I mean it is so cool that we can recognize things once we've identified them as bad.

01:26 We can adapt to that remember and respond again, that's our immune systems work and before you get like man, yeah, but sometimes my immune system is really let me down don't get too down on your immune system.

01:38 It's even strong enough to knock out some cancers.

01:41 So it is a amazing what your body can do.

01:46 That's why people who receive the flu vaccine are developing antibodies to those strains enter in the flu vaccine.

01:53 That's why it takes two weeks.

01:55 Okay, so that's almost like a paragraph there, but I don't want you to miss it.

01:58 So, why do we talk about the vaccine not being a hundred percent effective? Well because the strains of influenza mutate and change right all the time and this is the best guess from about six months earlier.

02:11 We when the first flu influenza vaccine is available.

02:14 The other reason was even after receiving the vaccine.

02:18 I've got about 10 to 14 days before I'm really going to be protected IE because it takes that long for my body to develop antibodies and I'm only going to develop up antibodies to the flu strains that were in the vaccine so you can see why there's a few pieces that have to come together.

02:37 That is why some people who receive the flu vaccine develop the antibodies to what was in that strain then somewhere along the line the strength mutates that's people are being exposed to and that's why it's not a hundred percent effective.

02:51 Okay, so that's a lot of talk about dates and times.

02:53 So let's review quickly.

02:56 There's great information on this slid.

02:58 You need antibodies to be protected, you develop the antibodies after receiving the vaccine but it takes you let's say two weeks for those antibodies to develop to the vaccine that you received.

03:11 Those are the most important takeaway points from the section.