The immune system is very powerful.  It protects your body from germs parasites, bacteria and viruses.  When you get a parasite or virus, your immune system fights to eliminate it and make you feel better.

Woman Washing Her Hands

A parasite is an organism that enters your body and lives and feeds on your body.

Parasites can enter your body in many different ways.  You can drink or eat contaminated foods.  You can become infected from your pets.  Your children can become infected by their day care centers or schools.  The World Health Organization reports that parasites are among the sixth most harmful infectious diseases.

So although parasites are an organism, they can take the form of worms, viruses, bacteria or fungi.  The first step in protecting yourself is by keeping germs and parasites from even entering the body.  Your skin is actually part of your immune system.  Your skin acts as a barrier and usually will keep out bacteria and germs.  Additionally, you can assist in this barrier by constantly keeping your hand washed and not touching your eyes, nose and mouth when your hands are dirty or possibly contaminated.

When the parasites enter your body, your immune system has many additional functions.  These include:

Trying to detect the parasite and eliminate it from your body before it can reproduce in your body

• Fighting illness caused by the parasites and eliminating it.

While eliminating bacteria and parasites, your immune system is also able to distinguish good bacteria from bad bacteria.

So now that you know what happens when you get parasites, you may wonder how you contacted them and how you can avoid them the next time.  As relates to the immune system, one of the causes for being susceptible to parasites is if you are immune compromised; immune compromised means that due to some other condition, such as another illness like HIV, your immune system does not work as well as a healthy individual.  Some other causes of parasite transmission include:

• Living in or visiting an area known to have parasites
• International travel
• Poor sanitation in your living area
• Poor hygiene
• Age — children and the elderly are more likely to get infected
• Exposure to child and institutional care centers
• Immune-compromised
• HIV or AIDS

Along with parasites, your immune system is responsible for helping you recover from the flu or another virus, such as the chicken pox.  The immune system also helps fight cancer cells from developing, as the cells start small and can develop into cancerous cells.  On the minor side, your immune system also will help with healing if you have a cut or scrape in which some foreign substance enters into your body.  Your immune system is very important and is constantly working.