eli5 Why does our immune system not attack viruses during “incubation period”?

Question

eli5 Why does our immune system not attack viruses during “incubation period”?

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Answer 1

After you are infected, your immune system:

1. Has to notice that something is up
2. Has to work out which antibodies are effective at stopping it
3. Has to mass produce those antibodies to eliminate the infection
4. Stops when it stops getting signals that the virus is still active

Before step 3, from the point when you are infected until your immune system has started acting at full power, you are infecting other people and don’t yet have any symptoms. That’s what people usually call the incubation period. It’s only after your immune response has ramped up that you start feeling the effects.