OtterKnow Kids EncyclopediaYour body has its own team of germ fighters called the immune system! It works like a tiny army inside you. Your immune system is always working to keep you healthy and strong.
White blood cells are the soldiers of this army, and they travel through your blood looking for germs that do not belong. When they find a germ, they surround it and destroy it to keep you healthy. Sometimes your body has never met a certain germ before, so it takes a little while to figure out how to fight it — that is why you might feel sick for a few days.
Once your body beats a germ, it remembers how it did it! If the same germ comes back later, your body can fight it off much faster. Eating healthy food, sleeping well, and washing your hands all help your immune system do its job!
- That is why you usually only get certain illnesses like chicken pox once — your body remembers!
- Your body makes billions of white blood cells to fight germs.
- Your immune system is so smart that it can remember germs it fought years ago!
