Oxford Scholarship Online: In Defense of Self

In Defense of Self How the Immune System Really Works Clark, William R. Professor and Chair Emeritus of Immunology, Department of Molecular, Cell and Developmental Biology, University of California, Los Angeles Print publication date: 2008 (this edition) Published to Oxford Scholarship Online: September 2008 Print ISBN-13: 978-0-19-533663-4 doi:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195336634.003.0006
6 When the Immune System Is the Problem, Not the Solution: Microbial Immunopathology William R. Clark The immune response to microbal infection is massive and brutal — it has to be. But on occasion, particularly when an initial infection is not rapidly cleared, the ongoing immune attack against invaders can cause significant collateral damage to otherwise healthy self cells and tissues. This damage is refered to as immunopathology. This chapter examines three examples of immunopathology: tuberculosis, viral hepatitis, and bacterial sepsis. Keywords: immunopathology, tuberculosis, viral hepatitis, bacterial sepsis, doi:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195336634.003.0006