Catatan

Mucosal immunity plays a very promi-
nent role in protection against viruses

and other infectious agents in the gas-
trointestinal tract, in the eyes, in the

anogenital mucosa and in the respiratory
tract. Because the gastrointestinal (GI)
tract is the largest and most complex of
these systems, the greatest attention in
this text has been given to the GI
tract. Therefore, separate chapters are
devoted to the virology and the mucosal
immunology of the gastrointestinal tract.
A third chapter focuses on the proximal
end of the gastrointestinal tract (i.e. the
oral cavity). The mucosal immunology
and virology of the distal end of the
gastrointestinal tract is covered in the
chapter on the anogenital mucosa.
Mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue
(MALT) plays a role in protection against
all viral (and other) infections except
those that enter the body via a bite (e.g.
yellow fever or dengue from a mosquito
or rabies from a dog) or an injection or
transfusion (e.g. HIV, Hepatitis B). In
these cases where a break in the skin is
necessary for viral entry, peripheral
(i.e. systemic) immunity plays a greater
role. Peripheral immunity is primarily
controlled by the bone marrow, lymph
nodes and spleen. Both systems involve
humoral and cell mediated immunity, but
their immune functions also can be

divided into innate and adaptive immu-
nity. Innate immunity provides a rapid

response to a new antigen and sets the
stage for the adaptive response; innate
immunity is pathogen nonspecific and
has no recall. On the other hand, adaptive
immunity is organism/antigen-specific,
is involved in disease recovery, has