AUTHOR=Bach Jean-François TITLE=Revisiting the Hygiene Hypothesis in the Context of Autoimmunity JOURNAL=Frontiers in Immunology VOLUME=11 YEAR=2021 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/immunology/articles/10.3389/fimmu.2020.615192 DOI=10.3389/fimmu.2020.615192 ISSN=1664-3224 ABSTRACT=
Initially described for allergic diseases, the hygiene hypothesis was extended to autoimmune diseases in the early 2000s. A historical overview allows appreciation of the development of this concept over the last two decades and its discussion in the context of evolution. While the epidemiological data are convergent, with a few exceptions, the underlying mechanisms are multiple and complex. A major question is to determine what is the respective role of pathogens, bacteria, viruses, and parasites,