Inborn errors of immunity to infection: the rule rather than the exception

JL Casanova, L Abel - The Journal of experimental medicine, 2005 - rupress.org
JL Casanova, L Abel
The Journal of experimental medicine, 2005rupress.org
The immune system's function is to protect against microorganisms, but infection is
nonetheless the most frequent cause of death in human history. Until the last century, life
expectancy was only∼ 25 years. Recent increases in human life span primarily reflect the
development of hygiene, vaccines, and anti-infectious drugs, rather than the adjustment of
our immune system to coevolving microbes by natural selection. We argue here that most
individuals retain a natural vulnerability to infectious diseases, reflecting a great diversity of …
The immune system's function is to protect against microorganisms, but infection is nonetheless the most frequent cause of death in human history. Until the last century, life expectancy was only ∼25 years. Recent increases in human life span primarily reflect the development of hygiene, vaccines, and anti-infectious drugs, rather than the adjustment of our immune system to coevolving microbes by natural selection. We argue here that most individuals retain a natural vulnerability to infectious diseases, reflecting a great diversity of inborn errors of immunity.
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