Infectious diseases are the main cause of mortality and morbidity worldwide. The development of successful vaccines is thus one of the major achievements in medical history and may have saved more lives than antibiotics. Whereas the first vaccines were ...

Cancer patients under chemotherapy are at high risk for neutropenia. If fever occurs in this situation an oncologic emergency is underway. Patient should receive immediate basic diagnostic procedures and broad-spectrum antibiotics have to be initiated. ...

Combination antiretroviral therapy (cART) has improved the prognosis of HIV-infected individuals dramatically – which is now close to a normal life expectancy in a significant proportion of treated individuals. However, several factors, such as the ...

Primary Immunodeficiencies (PID) are rare, genetically determined diseases that cause dysfunctional immunity, clinically presenting as susceptibility to infection but also as autoimmunity due to deficient immune tolerance. More than 180 PID have been ...

The successful use of a chimeric monoclonal antibody targeting TNF alpha (infliximab) to treat rheumatoid arthritis (RA) two decades ago, ushered in a new era of therapy with the so-called biopharmaceuticals, commonly referred to as “biologics”. Their use ...

Malnutrition is the primary cause of immunodeficiency worldwide and profoundly affects immune responses. Malnutrition diminishes immune function and therefore prevents the host from mounting an adequate protective response to infectious agents. In turn, ...