Viruses & Autoimmunity

Some viruses are structured in a way that when antibodies necessary to disable them are activated, they also become harmful to the human body itself. Many forms of kidney failure in the young are triggered by the immune reaction to streptococcus. Many forms of type I juvenile diabetes are thought to be caused by the body’s immune response to a viral infection. This is in fact the mechanism presumed for a number of autoimmune diseases that appear to be precipitated by a viral illness.