system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
Let's say I have a cut on my arm that and my body is currently fighting the infection. Am I subsequently at less risk of contracting a cold or flu because my body is already on alert for pathogens?
gpt
Yes and no. 

Technically your immune system has been primed by the current infection, and thus your immune system is on the hunt for pathogens to destroy. So yes, you should have a quicker immune reaction to a new infection.

However, the immune system response to a microorganism often causes symptoms such as a high fever and inflammation, and has the potential to be more devastating than direct damage caused by a microbe. Some of these symptoms help prevent further infection. Such as a higher then normal temperature (which can kill/denature viruses). Others can put you more at risk, like inflamation (which can cause more damage or additional infections due to opportunistic pathogens). 

Immune resistance to an infectious disease requires a critical level of either antigen-specific antibodies and/or T cells when the host encounters the pathogen. Just because you have 1 injury or infection, doesn't necessarily mean you are less at risk of a different infection. 

Your body will only produce antibodies that fight the current infection, the antibodies needed to fight a different infection (cold/flu or other) are not necessarily the same as the antibodies that fight the current infection. 

This is just a simple answer, obviously the immune system is far more complex then this, and there are proteins and hormones and other compounds that are created by your body to assist in fighting infections.