Introduction to clinical immunology

Foreword

This book represents the second publication on immunology, for English-speaking students of Medical Faculty of Poznań University but it covers an entire different scope. The previous book (Immunological Methods) was a short introduction to practical immunology and covered principal immunological techniques, described in a way allow-ing to perform the techniques in a laboratory.

Current textbook consists of two parts. The first of them, Practical Immunology is supposed to help a future physician to select immunodiagnostic tests useful for diagnosing diseases of immune background. The other part, Clinical Immunology includes 13 chapters adjusted to the same number of student classes. The chapters are intended to assist in understanding immune mechanisms which determine clinical patterns and the course of individual diseases. They were mostly written by academic teachers, who conduct classes with the students. The individual chapters differ in volume, set-out of the text and accentuation, which reflects individual preferences and interests of their authors. Nevertheless, every chapter supplies data fully sufficient to allow the student to prepare for the classes. Our goal was an attempt to facilitate a medical student to under-stand immune mechanisms involved in phenomena of human pathology. Contemporary immunology represents a difficult, complex and a continuously developing knowledge. There is no need to convince anybody as to its significance in medicine. It is important for almost any medical branch. On the other hand, students have frequently complained that they do not understand immunology and that respective classes tend to be boring. Confronting these postulates we have prepared a textbook containing a comprehensive, up to date information, with over 240 pages, numerous figures, list of key words, which should not only help in understanding complex immune phenomena but may be helpful also to doctors who already have started their professional work. In comparison to the Polish edition (”Immunology”) several new data have been added such as on Viral hepatitis in Chapter 9, Pulmonary tuberculosis in Ch. 11 and on Evidence Based Laboratory Medicine (EBLM) on Ch. 5, but novel information may be found in almost each chapter. Therefore, we shall expect and require that students will be aware of basic data contained in this book in any classes of obligatory attendance. The time of classes should be devoted not to repetition of the book data but to demonstration of specific methods or clinical cases. We sincerely hope that this new textbook will promote not only better knowledge and understanding of immunology but also fascination in this immensely interesting, interdisciplinary branch of the medical science. This interest may be enriched by searching respective websites provided by most of authors. 

I would like to express thanks to all authors of the textbook for their readiness to take part in this undertaking and to make several corrections and supplements in the English edition. However, edition of the book would not be possible without a tremendous amount of work given by the team of the Scientific Editorial Office of Poznań University of Medical Sciences. We also appreciate the effort, the will of co-operation and keeping the deadline of translator of the Polish edition, dr Jan Jaroszewski. On behalf of all the authors I gratefully acknowledge the work and effort of all above mentioned people.

Jan Żeromski