Immune System and Disorders

On this page

Summary

Your immune system is a complex network of cells, tissues, and organs that work together to defend against germs. It helps your body to recognize these "foreign" invaders. Then its job is to keep them out, or if it can't, to find and destroy them.

If your immune system cannot do its job, the results can be serious. Disorders of the immune system include

Allergy and asthma - immune responses to substances that are usually not harmful
Immune deficiency diseases - disorders in which the immune system is missing one or more of its parts
Autoimmune diseases - diseases causing your immune system to attack your own body's cells and tissues by mistake

Start Here

Immune System (For Parents) (Nemours Foundation) Also in Spanish
Overview of the Immune System (National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases)
Primary Immune Deficiency Diseases (National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases)

Symptoms

10 Warning Signs of Primary Immunodeficiency (Jeffrey Modell Foundation) - PDF
Recurrent Infections May Signal Immunodeficiencies (American Academy of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology) Also in Spanish

Diagnosis and Tests

Laboratory Tests (Immune Deficiency Foundation)

Living With

How to Keep an Infusion Log: Intravenous Immune Globulin (IVIG) (Immune Deficiency Foundation) - PDF

Related Issues

Autoinflammatory Diseases (National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases)
Flu Vaccine Guidance for Patients with Immune Deficiency (American Academy of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology) Also in Spanish
Immunoglobulin Replacement Therapy: When You Need It -- and When You Don't (ABIM Foundation)
Talking to Your Doctor about Primary Immune Deficiency Diseases (National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases)
Travelers' Health: Immunocompromised Travelers (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)

Specifics

Chronic Granulomatous Disease (CGD) (National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases)
Common Variable Immunodeficiency (CVID) (National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases)
Congenital Neutropenia Syndromes (National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases)
DiGeorge Syndrome (DGS) (American Academy of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology)
DOCK8 Deficiency (National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases)
General Information about Langerhans Cell Histiocytosis (LCH) (National Cancer Institute) Also in Spanish
Glycosylation Disorders with Immunodeficiency (National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases)
Hyper-Immunoglobulin E Syndromes (HIES) (National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases)
Mastocytosis (American Academy of Family Physicians) Also in Spanish
PI3 Kinase Disease (National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases)
PLCG2-associatiated antibody deficiency immune dysregulation (PLAID) (National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases)
Selective IgA Deficiency (American Academy of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology)
Severe Combined Immunodeficiency (SCID) (National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases)
Types of Primary Immune Deficiency Diseases (National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases)
Warts, Hypogammaglobulinemia, Infections, and Myelokathexis Syndrome (WHIMS) (National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases)
Wiskott-Aldrich Syndrome (WAS) (National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases) - PDF
X-Linked Agammaglobulinemia (XLA) (National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases)

Genetics

Genetics Home Reference: 22q11.2 deletion syndrome (National Library of Medicine)
Genetics Home Reference: activated PI3K-delta syndrome (National Library of Medicine)
Genetics Home Reference: adenosine deaminase deficiency (National Library of Medicine)
Genetics Home Reference: anhidrotic ectodermal dysplasia with immune deficiency (National Library of Medicine)
Genetics Home Reference: autosomal dominant hyper-IgE syndrome (National Library of Medicine)
Genetics Home Reference: bare lymphocyte syndrome type I (National Library of Medicine)
Genetics Home Reference: bare lymphocyte syndrome type II (National Library of Medicine)
Genetics Home Reference: Chediak-Higashi syndrome (National Library of Medicine)
Genetics Home Reference: chronic granulomatous disease (National Library of Medicine)
Genetics Home Reference: common variable immune deficiency (National Library of Medicine)
Genetics Home Reference: complement component 2 deficiency (National Library of Medicine)
Genetics Home Reference: complement component 8 deficiency (National Library of Medicine)
Genetics Home Reference: complement factor I deficiency (National Library of Medicine)
Genetics Home Reference: DOCK8 immunodeficiency syndrome (National Library of Medicine)
Genetics Home Reference: Erdheim-Chester disease (National Library of Medicine)
Genetics Home Reference: familial candidiasis (National Library of Medicine)
Genetics Home Reference: familial hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (National Library of Medicine)
Genetics Home Reference: Griscelli syndrome (National Library of Medicine)
Genetics Home Reference: hepatic veno-occlusive disease with immunodeficiency (National Library of Medicine)
Genetics Home Reference: immune dysregulation, polyendocrinopathy, enteropathy, X-linked syndrome (National Library of Medicine)
Genetics Home Reference: IRAK-4 deficiency (National Library of Medicine)
Genetics Home Reference: JAK3-deficient severe combined immunodeficiency (National Library of Medicine)
Genetics Home Reference: Langerhans cell histiocytosis (National Library of Medicine)
Genetics Home Reference: leukocyte adhesion deficiency type 1 (National Library of Medicine)
Genetics Home Reference: mannose-binding lectin deficiency (National Library of Medicine)
Genetics Home Reference: MDA5 deficiency (National Library of Medicine)
Genetics Home Reference: MyD88 deficiency (National Library of Medicine)
Genetics Home Reference: Omenn syndrome (National Library of Medicine)
Genetics Home Reference: poikiloderma with neutropenia (National Library of Medicine)
Genetics Home Reference: purine nucleoside phosphorylase deficiency (National Library of Medicine)
Genetics Home Reference: Schimke immuno-osseous dysplasia (National Library of Medicine)
Genetics Home Reference: spondyloenchondrodysplasia with immune dysregulation (National Library of Medicine)
Genetics Home Reference: systemic mastocytosis (National Library of Medicine)
Genetics Home Reference: T-cell immunodeficiency, congenital alopecia, and nail dystrophy (National Library of Medicine)
Genetics Home Reference: TRNT1 deficiency (National Library of Medicine)
Genetics Home Reference: Vici syndrome (National Library of Medicine)
Genetics Home Reference: Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome (National Library of Medicine)
Genetics Home Reference: X-linked agammaglobulinemia (National Library of Medicine)
Genetics Home Reference: X-linked hyper IgM syndrome (National Library of Medicine)
Genetics Home Reference: X-linked immunodeficiency with magnesium defect, Epstein-Barr virus infection, and neoplasia (National Library of Medicine)
Genetics Home Reference: X-linked lymphoproliferative disease (National Library of Medicine)
Genetics Home Reference: X-linked severe combined immunodeficiency (National Library of Medicine)
Genetics Home Reference: Yao syndrome (National Library of Medicine)
Genetics Home Reference: ZAP70-related severe combined immunodeficiency (National Library of Medicine)
Learning about Severe Combined Immunodeficiency (SCID) (National Human Genome Research Institute)
Primary Immune Deficiency Disease Genetics & Inheritance (National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases)

Health Check Tools

Immune System Quiz (Nemours Foundation)

Videos and Tutorials

Immune response (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
Phagocytosis (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish

Statistics and Research

Featured Immune System Research (National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases)

Clinical Trials

ClinicalTrials.gov: Granulomatous Disease, Chronic (National Institutes of Health)
ClinicalTrials.gov: Immune System Diseases (National Institutes of Health)
ClinicalTrials.gov: Severe Combined Immunodeficiency (National Institutes of Health)

Journal Articles References and abstracts from MEDLINE/PubMed (National Library of Medicine)

Find an Expert

Children

Our Immune System (Immune Deficiency Foundation) - PDF
Repeated Infections in Children (American Academy of Family Physicians) Also in Spanish
Severe Combined Immunodeficiency (For Parents) (Nemours Foundation) Also in Spanish
Weakened Immune Systems (American Academy of Pediatrics) Also in Spanish
What Is a Pediatric Allergist / Immunologist? (American Academy of Pediatrics) Also in Spanish

Teenagers

Immune System (Nemours Foundation) Also in Spanish

Patient Handouts

Agammaglobulinemia (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
Aging changes in immunity (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
Chronic granulomatous disease (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
Graft-versus-host disease (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
Histiocytosis (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
Hyperimmunoglobulin E syndrome (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
Immune response (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
Immunodeficiency disorders (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
Selective deficiency of IgA (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish