Post #2915242

OED: > 1. totally or partially resistant to a particular infectious disease or pathogen. > 2. protected or exempt, especially from an obligation or the effects of something. Merriam Webster > 1. : not susceptible or responsive > > especially: having a high degree of resistance to a disease > 2. a: produced by, involved in, or concerned with immunity or an immune response > > b: having or producing antibodies or lymphocytes capable of reacting with a specific antigen > 3. a: marked by protection > > b: free, exempt So unless you pretend that MW's 2b sense is the only valid one, the immunity is immunity. If you have a sample of HIV at 37°C in blood, but with all the immune cells removed, it'll still all become inert after around a week simply due to chemical reactions with other components of blood etc.. It's pretty comparable to a population of animals - if you take away their ability to reproduce, they'll die of old age when left for long enough even if you're not actively killing them. *Edit: fat-fingered the save button while previewing the formatting*