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Immunity

Innate Immunity – Acquired Immunity © HZI/Manfred Rhode T cells (shown in red) interacting with dendritic cells. The human immune system exists of a huge number of different cells with different functions. They occur in the blood as „white blood cells“. A…

Tuberculosis

Tuberculosis – a silent pandemic © HZI/Manfred Rohde Tuberculosis Tuberculosis is one of the „big three“ infectious diseases, together with AIDS and Malaria. In Europe, tuberculosis is almost forgotten, the times of the “The Lady of the Camellias” and…

Topics

Individualized Infection Medicine

Individualized Infection Medicine For some years now, the buzzword "individualized medicine" (often also referred to as "personalized medicine" or "precision medicine") has been the subject of heated debate in research, clinical practice, industry and…

Poliomyelitis

Poliomyelitis © AdobeStock/nobeastsofierce Poliovirus The pathogen, i.e. poliovirus, is a member of the enteroviruses that can proliferate in the human intestines and includes three different types - type 2 is considered to be eradicated, whereas type 1 and…

Measles

Measles - Fear of vaccination makes people ill © CDC / Dr. Edwin P. Ewing, Jr. Giant cell in a measles pneumonia; Fine tissue section Again and again headlines like "Measles epidemic in Berlin - Full risk, fatal consequences" (Süddeutsche Zeitung),…

Emerging Diseases

Emerging Diseases – A challenge for research, medicine and society © HZI/Verena Meier Researcher in the S3 laboratory at the HZI To eradicate infectious diseases forever: This vision is likely to remain wishful thinking. Even if medicine were able to find a…

Influenza

Influenza - a yearly infection © HZI/Britta Meyer Influenza virus It is quite common, but not very pleasant: The “flu”, an infection with influenza virus. It is transmitted via droplet infection between individuals. If you catch it, you are agonized with a…

Salmonellae

Salmonellae © HZI/Siegfried Weiß Salmonellae in a tumour Salmonellae often make the headlines in summer when they spoil a mayonnaise, a milk-based ice cream or whipped egg whites. Not rarely, infections are caused by careless, unhygienic handling of poultry…

Coronaviruses

Coronaviruses © CDC/Fred Murphy, Sylvia Whitfield (Public Domain) Coronaviruses The coronaviruses are a family of viruses that includes a series of very different pathogens. These viruses usually infect mammals, rodents, and birds, but only few…