What are antibodies? What are neutralizing antibodies?
Antibodies are molecules that the body can make as part of its normal defense (the immune system) against foreign bodies, such as viruses. For example, when a person is infected with the flu, their body makes antibodies against the flu virus (this takes a few days) and eventually these antibodies help to defeat the virus. When a person gets vaccinated against flu, the doctor is simply injecting an inactive form of the flu virus. The person’s body will make antibodies against the virus and when they are exposed to the flu, they will already have an antibody defense established and can defeat the virus before it makes them sick. Neutralizing antibodies are a type of antibody that ‘neutralizes’ the activity of a molecule that the body thinks is foreign.
