What is Passive Immunization?

Passive immunization is a process that refers to the human body becoming impervious to a particular disease without involving the immune system. One way to do this is naturally if a child receives the mother’s antibodies through breastfeeding. There is also an artificial form of passive immunization when a person is administered a serum (an antibody). This is important when the human body acutely needs an antibody as a result of a venomous bite. In that case, the immune system does not work fast enough to detoxify the poison. In this case, this immune system is “bypassed” and the patient is injected with antibodies directly. The immune system will not engage in passive immunization. No antibodies and memory cells will be produced.