How does the immune system know we catch a virus/disease? And how does it attack the virus/disease?
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This is the job of the B-cells. These are cells which are made in the bone marrow. Each B-cell is encoded with a random antigen. Before the B-cell is formed this antigen is tested against all the possible proteins that the parent cell’s DNA can make and if anyone is a match the B-cell is not formed. The B-cell will be released into the blood stream where it will have the antigens sticking out of its cell wall. These antigens will try to attach to any protein but normally no protein fits its unique shape. However if a virus infects you it will create proteins which are not encoded in human DNA.
When this happens some of the antigens will detach the B-cell and start interacting with the other cells, making T-cells attack them, making hormones that cause more T-cells to come, hormones which trigger generic immune responses, etc. But some of the antigens will instead trigger the B-cell to multiply, something it normally never does. So you get more B-cells and more antigens to attack this virus.
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