Health & the body
Original antigenic sin: how your first flu shapes a lifetime of immunity
11 min
The immune system is biased toward the first version of a virus it ever met, which can help or badly mislead its response to later strains. Explore this quirk of immune memory and why it complicates flu shots and pandemic response.
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Show notes
The immune system prioritizes recycling old antibodies over creating new ones for familiar viruses.
Memory B-cells sequester viral material to prevent new cells from adapting to mutated strains.
A person's birth year predicts their survival rate against specific flu strains based on childhood exposure.
Single amino acid mutations can render legacy antibodies ineffective while the body ignores new viral threats.
Universal vaccine research targets the stable hemagglutinin stalk to bypass rigid immune memory.
Frequent annual vaccinations can narrow the immune response through negative interference from past imprinting.
In this episode
- 1Intro1 min
- 2The Doctrine of Thomas Francis Jr.2 min
- 3The Mechanics of Memory Bias3 min
- 4The Double-Edged Sword: Protection vs. Susceptibility3 min
- 5The Quest for a Universal Vaccine2 min
- 6Outro1 min
Sources
- The Doctrine of Original Antigenic Sin: Separating Good From Evil
- B cell imprinting in children impairs antibodies to the haemagglutinin stalk | Nature
- Original Antigenic Sin: How Original? How Sinful?
- Original Antigenic Sin Responses to Influenza Viruses 1
- The Wages of Original Antigenic Sin - Volume 16, Number 6—June 2010 - Emerging Infectious Diseases journal - CDC
- From Original Antigenic Sin to the Universal Influenza Virus Vaccine
- Antibodies with ‘Original Antigenic Sin’ Properties Are Valuable Components of Secondary Immune Responses to Influenza Viruses | PLOS Pathogens
- Original Antigenic Sin: How Original? How Sinful?
- Innate immunity and training to subvert original antigenic ...
- Flu science points to another culprit when vaccines fail — us
- Original Antigenic Sin and Pandemic (H1N1) 2009 - Volume 16, Number 6—June 2010 - Emerging Infectious Diseases journal - CDC
- First Impressions Matter: Immune Imprinting and Antibody Cross-Reactivity in Influenza and SARS-CoV-2 - PMC
- Immune history and influenza virus susceptibility
- The Doctrine of Original Antigenic Sin
- https://watermark.silverchair.com/jix173.pdf?token=AQECAHi208BE49Ooan9kkhW_Ercy7Dm3ZL_9Cf3qfKAc485ysgAAA08wggNLBgkqhkiG9w0BBwagggM8MIIDOAIBADCCAzEGCSqGSIb3DQEHATAeBglghkgBZQMEAS4wEQQMpnmYw7j3V66S5h9PAgEQgIIDAo3BkYKsGm5OGnIFFnLRD7UTnSZgnhM5OshjXd4Y7Jjv849UPu_gXtTJ_FDpfDAJ0_KSk2Vb3b2wkG5Fm0OlGlT_eRDxiS1zBcSzg6ha_2y--czkdUTLbfXCDl13ZteLX5AA0ml9jV68cY1I79gMVuxOI5qNnWZscUL2tsKi_2PyNTI8crlDGYKs5kXxyyB0fKjbdQg3jML4koBt9MQH31zvmHQyOsciOKXPmzMZJPW3xb2NWKOXKSo6aiE7d2tFRcRGZsjG-XWP7xGjDehjglo_z3_Ru973kOt4cR_hEbrXaB4b3zzH-j83ec7_Gcs2ltQmZfbZ7xlGDHrgFsqhqemPACkOmR_VBImbJH0PP288bEehySjAMO0LYOVvjDLIcEpU-uyZBDhKpFO5wbIGR8heLhcipJ-e8j0WdjxT5LUla2KIWBIlC2lePeTdndzhbZHyexwDxMvM08LnH3zSEOz18tEPK_ui_pcegddC5iokA3ikeGlb_CtYrSd5e98uq7CJeCTNuKZjq2OHWcDrq5ga0k1WVRSm3eT0vh78hOWXA4tc0P_tXS_97Gc2U1KZoQShNMgkc79V-CU7e0q_LtKm5nvl0wRNYyWbkSw33pm65CJ0LkmGKAd_Sz5AI6ylmMGyRbxb4giavB5W0qgQu4Yd21nih8ozS0YrhWVajvYbcyz-QOQWd2NbsCCK55VVOz88sr5eZY-5cbV0-E-ufJ5AgE4FnUaAt3dlzX58imMuWZnr5UmL7bMT8RCA3LYITqGE1m5LWDl9oVQwAnnTpfmx5Mg9cbZz7ag-tYStL8pjXuLfReJFtXxATEPGuY2trguslXkaGhsJCiNZNcDePP1tf0PzNbKxgiAKl4tsVgiKERWbLzPInzgDnpB8eLI5CZ7UxjRju9CZ31IBcWA6ROoNXWWVc7r05cOv5UnlaB5-9zgjqsp-b2V1a5e4QgDHPZGnBaGMsRb1sDJjObiULk5NrV4_v37nwDYSL94DRIAHiPYd1XrUNd4UlqYoVnqy13vj
- Review article Original antigenic sin: A comprehensive review
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