Artificially Acquired Passive Immunity Flashcards, test questions and answers

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What is Artificially Acquired Passive Immunity?

Artificially acquired passive immunity is a type of immunization that provides short-term protection against a disease. It involves the injection of antibodies, either from another person’s blood or produced in a laboratory, into the recipient. This immunity does not develop naturally and is only effective for a few weeks or months after injection.This form of immunity is useful in cases where natural immunity is not an option, such as when an immediate response to infection is needed. The introduction of foreign antibodies can provide temporary protection until the body has had enough time to produce its own antibodies. Artificially acquired passive immunity can also be used in cases where there are no vaccines available for a particular pathogen or when vaccines are not effective due to the presence of viral mutations or weakened strains.One example of artificially acquired passive immunity is the use of gamma globulins (IVIG) to treat certain infections. Gamma globulins are proteins found in human plasma that contain specific antibodies against certain pathogens such as hepatitis B virus and rabies virus. Gamma globulin injections provide temporary protection from the targeted pathogens but do not prevent subsequent infections with these organisms if exposed again in future encounters. Another example is Rh immune globulin, which helps prevent Rh sensitization during pregnancy by introducing foreign Rh negative antibodies into an Rh positive pregnant woman’s bloodstream thereby preventing her body from producing its own anti-Rh antibodies which would then attack any fetus with Rh positive blood cells present at birth and potentially cause hemolytic disease of the newborn (HDN). Artificially acquired passive immunity can also be used to treat some autoimmune disorders by introducing antibodies that will bind to and block autoantigens before they reach their target cell receptors thus preventing disease progression while allowing normal physiology to occur simultaneously due to lack of autoantibody production by the patient’s immune system (immune tolerance). This type of therapy has been studied with promising results for multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis and systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). While artificially acquired passive immunity provides short-term protection against specific diseases it does have limitations since it does not develop long term protective memory like active immunization does but instead relies on maintaining high levels of antibody titers through continued administration over time which can often prove difficult especially when dealing with rare conditions like SLE where access to treatment may be limited due financial constraints or availability issues depending on geographic location/regionality .