Can one illness keep out another?

Question

I know about innoculations, eg cow pox keeping out small pox. What about if I have a common cold- would that protect me from measles, mumps or rickets? If one illness is acting in a body, will it keep others out?

Answer 1

An inoculation works by providing a weakened "sample" for your immune system to "read" and make tailored antibodies for - and once those antibodies are present your immune system can easily make more at a moments notice. Now that is highly oversimplified, but it is the basic concept.

When you are sick with one illness on the other hand, your immune system becomes busy fighting off that illness by producing illness-specific antibodies - if you become infected with a secondary illness, we call this an opportunistic infection, as it takes advantage of the opportunity. Your immune system must then "read" the second illness and produce antibodies specific to that illness while still trying to fight off the first, effectively dividing its forces.

In fact, this is the major reason hospitals -believe it or not - are hotbeds of infection. It is absurdly easy to go into a hospital for a minor problem and develop an infection such as MRSA or VRE while there, simply because of the sheer numbers of people that go through the facility every day, sitting in chairs, opening doors, touching walls, handrails, etc. and the great majority of them do not properly wash or sanitize their hands after bathroom use, sneezing, coughing, touching their eyes, or even before eating. They constantly leave behind a trail of bacteria and viruses, and these can be easily transmitted to sick residents. This is why following a strict infection control protocol ANYWHERE you go is so important. Always wash your hands before and after bathroom use, sneezing, coughing, wiping your eyes, and eating. If you feel a sneeze coming on and do not have an antibacterial tissue handy, quickly crouch down and place your hands behind your back. This keeps droplets laden with germs down on the ground where the risk of them being inhaled by others is minimal, and keeps them off your hands. If you must use your hands to cover a sneeze or cough wash and sanitize them immediately.

When washing your hands, use a paper towel to turn on the faucets - this keeps new germs off you and your germs off the faucet. Wash with antibacterial soap and hot water for as long as it takes you to sing the "Happy Birthday" song twice, or about 45 seconds. Leave the taps on. Use a paper towel to dry your hands and then use a second paper towel to turn off the taps. It is a very good idea to carry a small bottle of alcohol-based hand sanitizer with you at all times, and use it whenever you cannot wash your hands.

Answer 2

Being dead effectively keeps out most things.