From the flu to recovery, what happened to your body?
From the flu to recovery, what happened to your body?
Every winter, some of our friends are absent from work because of flu. The subject we're talking about today is the flu.The flu is a disease caused by the influenza virus that enters the human body. Common symptoms include a runny nose, sore throat, cough, headache and fever. Recovery usually occurs within a week. Symptoms are similar to those of a cold, with the nose and throat affected most. Symptoms are milder, and rhinovirus is the most common virus that causes a cold. Influenza viruses can affect the upper and lower respiratory tract and even the gastrointestinal tract, causing more severe symptoms.
The influenza viruses found so far can be divided into four categories. Among them, the influenza A virus is the most widespread. The infamous H1N1 swine flu, H5N1 bird flu, H7N9 bird flu, etc. are listed here. H and N stand for the two main glycoproteins on the influenza virus envelope: hemagglutinin (H) and neuraminidase (N). According to the different types of hemagglutinin and neuraminidase, the academic community has classified the influenza A virus into subtypes such as H1N1 and H5N1.
Human cells are the target of the virus, and the hemagglutinin (H) allows the virus to bind to specific receptor molecules on the cell and successfully invade the cell. After invasion, the virus takes over the cell's function of synthesizing proteins for virus synthesis, and neuraminidase is involved in the process of releasing the virus and continuously infects other normal cells.
Although 33% of infected individuals have no obvious symptoms, most infected individuals develop symptoms within 1-2 days of virus entry. As normal cells continue to be infected, the innate immune system is the first to respond. The first to enter the battlefield are natural killer cells and phagocytes. Natural killer cells can rupture and kill infected cells, but they cannot accurately identify infected cells, and many normal cells are affected. At the same time, the nasal mucosa secretes mucus that blocks the nasal cavity and prevents the virus from infecting the airways and lungs. The nose begins to run, and infected cells, viruses, and debris are eaten by phagocytes.
Phagocytes can be divided into macrophages and neutrophils. Neutrophils are the most numerous type of white blood cells. They engulf pathogens and then destroy themselves. Their remains are mucus and the source of yellow snot.
Macrophages have a huge appetite, engulf multiple pathogens, digest them, and spit out the debris. The debris is carried away by the cilia of the pharynx and devoured for digestion. The immune system kills thousands of cells to suppress the virus, whereupon you get a sore throat. But the war has just begun. There are so many viruses that your body needs reinforcements. The phagocytes secrete interleukins to inform your hypothalamus: You get cold, you put on more clothes, your skeletal muscles start to move, you shiver, you are weak, and you get under the covers.
At this point, you start to have a fever. This trick works very well. Since the body temperature is higher than normal, the rate of reproduction of the virus slows down, the body's metabolism speeds up, new immune cells multiply faster, and hair and nails grow. Both happen 20% faster than usual. Due to the increased body temperature, the blood vessels swell and you get a headache.
If you can't turn the tide of the battle at this point, your acquired immunity kicks in. Dendritic cells carry viral fragments collected at the site of infection to the lymphatic system. There are numerous T cells and B cells that destroy specific pathogens, and once they recognize a specific glycoprotein, acquired immunity is activated. T cells and B cells start multiplying like crazy, and the lymph nodes swell. T cells are the fighters who go straight to the battlefield, and they can precisely find infected cells and destroy them. B cells are long-range shooters. Instead of going straight to the battlefield, they secrete proteins called antibodies. Antibodies bind to specific glycoproteins on the virus, tethering the free virus so that it can no longer infect normal cells.
Your flat bars will swell during this process. The pain begins to drink or talk. You will suffer more. But the tide of battle began to reverse. Your body recovers step by step. Virus numbers are dwindling and debris starts to build up in the throat, but the cilia that transport the debris are destroyed in previous battles, and you have to cough to clear the cellular debris from the throat.
Symptoms do not go away right away, and it takes about a week to heal. After that, most T cells will shrink and die, but a small number of T cells will remain in the body in the form of memory cells to deal with the next virus invasion.
Sadly: Viruses constantly mutate, changing the structure of their glycoproteins. When the virus invades again, if the memory cells don't recognize the specific glycoprotein, you'll catch another cold. That's why the flu has widespread outbreaks every 2-3 years.
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