How the Measles Virus Induces ‘Immune Amnesia’

WIRED Science: Space, Health, Biotech, and More

• Episode: How the Measles Virus Induces ‘Immune Amnesia’
• Website: WIRED Science: Space, Health, Biotech, and More
• Feed URL: http://api.spokenlayer.com/feed/channel/v1-wired-science-ext/3c9929b72538c12bd92ac6762f8d798b9d4e8cdca7692ea74f466061d01816cb
• Duration: 00:09:16
• Published: 2019-11-04 22:29

In the summer of 1907, a German doctor named Clemens von Pirquet noticed something strange with one of his patients. The five-year-old boy had previously tested positive for tuberculosis. The test involved injecting a tiny bit of TB protein just under the skin. His antibodies recognized it, activating immune cells which formed a little bump at the injection site. This happens to anyone who has ever been infected with TB. But when Pirquet performed the same test on the boy a second time, no bump.