Journal
JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL MEDICINE
Volume 202, Issue 2, Pages 197-201Publisher
ROCKEFELLER UNIV PRESS
DOI: 10.1084/jem.20050854
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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 similar to 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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