How Does Hepatitis B Combat the Immune System?
Hepatitis B virus tricks the immune system in a way that is unique compared with other pathogens. It does this by creating extra viral surface proteins during replication of whole virus particles. Although these additional surface proteins do not cause disease, they flood the bloodstream, acting as decoys. When our immune system creates antibodies to stop the infection, many of the antibodies bind to the extra proteins rather than binding to the whole virus particles. The whole hepatitis B virus particles can then go on to infect more liver cells.
Play a Kahoot! trivia game based on this animation. Visit http://www.vaccinemakers.org/trivia.
Dr. Maurice Hilleman was the first to realize that these extra viral surface proteins could be used against the virus. Watch a clip from the documentary, “HILLEMAN: A Perilous Quest to Save the World’s Children,” to learn more: • Hilleman - Hepatitis B Segment - Vacc... .
Animation created by and for the Vaccine Makers Project.
The Vaccine Makers Project gratefully acknowledges the ongoing collaboration and partnership with XVIVO, creator of medical animations and scientific media: https://xvivo.com.
Copyright © 2016, Medical History Pictures, Inc. All rights reserved.
The Vaccine Makers Project (VMP) is the classroom-based program of the Vaccine Education Center at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (VEC at CHOP). The Center’s team is composed of scientists, physicians, mothers and fathers devoted to the study and prevention of infectious diseases. The Center was launched in October 2000 to provide accurate, comprehensive and up-to-date information about vaccines and the diseases they prevent. The VMP program is committed to public education about vaccine science via scientifically supported, historically accurate, and emotionally compelling content.
Access the VMP’s free classroom materials: http://www.VaccineMakers.org.
Find information and resources related to vaccines and their safety: http://vaccine.chop.edu.
Learn more about the award-winning documentary for which the original animations were created. The documentary tells the compelling story of one of the world’s most accomplished scientists, Maurice Hilleman: http://www.HillemanFilm.com.
