Welcome and thank you for chosing our course ‘Allergies: When the Immune System Backfires’. In this article you will learn how this course is organized and meet the author, Professor Andreas J. Bircher, who will accompany you during this journey through the immune system.

What provokes an allergy? What types of allergic reactions do we distinguish and what are the underlying mechanisms? What are the typical clinical manifestations of each type and how do we best recognize, diagnose and treat them? These and more questions will be discussed by Professor Andreas J. Bircher in the next three chapters. Let us first have a look at how this course is organized and at what questions or issues will be addressed in each chapter.

Chapter 1: Allergy – the history of misunderstanding

In the first chapter, we address some of the events, mishaps, and discoveries in history that lead to our modern understanding of the immune system. Indeed, it was mostly due to the development of vaccinations and remedies against eliciting culprits of major epidemics that researchers in the early 20th century could shed light on the mechanisms underlying our immune defence. After this historical excursus, the most relevant components of the immune system, the network that lies behind it and the components that interact are introduced. Towards the end of this chapter, Professor Andreas J. Bircher, takes you on a tour through an imaginary mediaeval castle, which – through a metaphorical approach – will allow you to more easily memorise the various introduced defence lines of our immune system.

Chapter 2: Immediate type mechanism – clinical allergic disorders

In the second chapter, we introduce Coombs and Gell’s widely known classification system of allergies. We then start by having a closer look at immediate type – or type I – allergic reactions. You will learn more about the most common allergen carrier groups – including insect venom, respiratory and food allergens – and the mechanism underlying this reaction type. Finally, Professor Andreas J. Bircher shows how to diagnose immediate type allergic reactions and what possible therapeutic approaches there are. Moreover, emergency medications in case of a severe, life-threatening anaphylactic reaction are summarised.

Chapter 3: Eczemas and drug hypersensitivity

In the third chapter, two more types of allergic disorders are introduced: the eczema group (including contact eczema and atopic dermatitis) and drug hypersensitivities. For both types, the most relevant allergen carriers, the underlying mechanisms, and the typical manifestations or symptoms are discussed. Moreover, Andreas J. Bircher shows why diagnosing contact dermatitis and drug hypersensitivities is so challenging and what approaches may help to rule out other diagnoses and identify the true culprit.

Important references

Should you be new to this field of medicine, there might be some basic medical nomenclature which you need to understand to follow this course. The knowledge of these medical terms is helpful to understand the complex functions of the immune system. We will guide you through the different concepts and introduce each term step by step. If you still like to look up some terms, you’ll find a lot of helpful glossaries online – some examples you’ll find here, a second here, and a third with extensive information here (last accessed July 29th 2020).