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50 years of Pediatric Immunology: Progress and future — A clinical perspective

  • Golden Jubilee Perspective
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Abstract

Rapidly evolving advances in the field of immunology over the last few decades have impacted the practice of clinical medicine in many ways. In fact, understanding the immunological basis of disease has been pivotal in deciphering the pathogenesis of several disease processes, infective or otherwise. As of today, there is hardly any specialty of medicine which is not influenced by immunology. Pediatric rheumatological disorders, vasculitides, Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) infection, Primary Immunodeficiency Diseases (PIDs) and autoimmune disorders fall under the domain of clinical immunology. This specialty is poised to emerge as a major clinical specialty in our country. The gulf between bench and bedside is narrowing down as our understanding of the complex immunological mechanisms gets better. However, a lot still needs to be done in this field as the morbidity and mortality of some of these conditions is unacceptably high in the Indian setup. A number of medical schools and institutes in the country now have the resources and the wherewithal to develop into specialized centres of clinical immunology. We need to concentrate on training more physicians and pediatricians in this field. The future is bright and the prospects exciting!

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Pediatric Allergy & Immunology Unit, Advanced Pediatrics Center, PGIMER, Chandigarh, India

    Surjit Singh, Anju Gupta & Amit Rawat

  2. Advanced Pediatrics Center, Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, 160 012, India

    Surjit Singh

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  1. Surjit Singh
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  2. Anju Gupta
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Correspondence to Surjit Singh.

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Singh, S., Gupta, A. & Rawat, A. 50 years of Pediatric Immunology: Progress and future — A clinical perspective. Indian Pediatr 50, 88–92 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13312-013-0020-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13312-013-0020-5

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