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Immunology

In the UK, the medical specialty of immunology provides combined clinical and laboratory services for patients with diseases resulting from disordered immunological mechanisms. Immunological manipulations form an important part of the therapy delivered.

A patient with an immunologically mediated disease may not present directly to an immunology specialist; their condition may affect an organ system more relevant to a different specialty. However, within this group, some patients will also have primary immunodeficiency disorders. The rarity of their conditions, and the delay in diagnosis that goes with them, means that they will need complex therapy and lifelong immunological follow-up. Patients with autoimmune disease, systemic vasculitis and acute allergy require collaborative care between the relevant organ-based specialty and an immunology laboratory.

Consultants work closely with specialty nurses, who work at an advanced level on processes such as immunoglobin infusion, and even train patients who undertake self-infusion. Immunologists must utilise specialists such as microbiologists, virologists, cellular pathologists and radiologists to deliver care, and also liaise closely with specialists in respiratory medicine; ear, nose and throat (ENT) surgery; haematology; ophthalmology; and gastroenterology.