How bacteria attach their cloaks of invisibility to immune defenses

Bacteria have different strategies for protecting themselves. Some bacterial pathogens surround themselves with a shell made of many sugar chains that lie close together, also known as capsular polymers. This protects the bacteria from drying out and physical stress. In addition, the capsule makes the pathogens invisible to our body's own defenses, so to speak, and helps them to survive in the body.