Sun Fever Project

Hope I get an A!

One Day, I woke up and my eye was swollen shut.

I was unable to open it, and it was warm, sore and itchy.

When I Went To The Doctor, She Told Me That I Had Pink Eye.

Pink eye, she told me, is caused by pathogens, a bacterium, virus or microorganism that causes disease, that invade the transparent mucous membrane covering the white part of the eye.

My Doctor Also Told Me That...

My eye was warm to the touch because of antigens, bacteria that invoke an immune response in the body. It was swollen shut to try to protect itself from the outside environment, seeing as the first "line of defense", the skin, was passed. I was suffering from a bacterial infection.
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she prescribed me antibiotic eye drops.

The antibodies, proteins made in response to antigens, that were inside the medication would bind to the receptors of the antigens, forming an Antigen-Antibody Complex. The immune response, the bodies natural response to invaders, forms them to fight the pathogens.
The Immune response uses phagocytes, small type of cell within the body that has the capacity to absorb other cells and bacteria, to kill of the pathogens.

What was happening inside of my body?

My body was sending out cells to fight off the infection. My eye was warm because my body was attempting to heat itself to a temperature that would be hot enough to kill the intruders, but not hot enough to kill or permanently damages the body.

how does the immune system recognize pink eye as an infection?

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When the pink eye virus enters your body, the virus hides itself within a host cell. The body only recognizes the infection when the virus bursts out of the host cell, multiplied and ready to infect more cells.