Viruses, Immunity, and Immunodeficiency

This publication, 'Viruses, Immunity and Immunodeficiency,' is based on the first symposium in a series of International Biomedical Symposia sponsored by the College of Medicine of the University of South Florida in Tampa, Florida. There is an explosive interest concerning the effects of viruses on the immune response, especially the immunosuppressive effects of viral infection. This has come about because of the recognition that the Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome, which has taken biomedical scientists and the public in general by surprise, is just one of the many examples that viruses can influence the immune response system and, under appropriate circumstances, alter immunity in such a way that an infected individual becomes hi~lly susceptible to a variety of other organisms to which normal individuals would be resistant. This symposium series, sponsored by the University of South Florida College of Medicine, brings to the biomedical con(R)unity topics of current interest. We thank the members of the faculty of various departments of the College of Medicine and the administration of the College for their support and encouragement in having these symposiaat this medical school. This volume, based or. this symposium onviruses and immunity is a good exam- ple of the interdisciplinary nature of modern irrJ!1I1nobiology and modern biomedical science in general. Many investigators with many different back- grounds and training experiences, including microbiologists, immunologists, biochemists, oncologists, and physicians, are interested in how and why viruses influence the immune response system.