Abstract
The immune system plays a central role in recognizing and controlling the spread and impact on the host of infectious organisms. In the case of parasitic infections this task is complicated by the fact that many eukaryotic parasites have evolved sophisticated mechanisms for evading the immune response. Consequently, many diseases caused by parasites are chronic in nature and result in prolonged and excessive immune responsiveness which in itself can be deleterious. The study of immune responses to parasites has been important not only because of the potential for improving human and animal health through immunological means such as vaccination, but also because the extreme nature of many parasite-induced responses allow insights into the functioning of the immune system itself.
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© 2000 Springer Science+Business Media New York
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Pearce, E.J., Scott, P. (2000). Experimental Approaches to Studying the Immunology of Parasitic Diseases. In: Tschudi, C., Pearce, E.J. (eds) Biology of Parasitism. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-4622-8_13
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-4622-8_13
Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA
Print ISBN: 978-1-4419-4977-6
Online ISBN: 978-1-4757-4622-8
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