In this course, the students will be introduced to the basic concepts of immunology as it relates to human and animal health. The course is designed for students with no prior knowledge of immunology and students are encouraged to understand the fundamentals of immunology. Conceptual understanding of the subject is the key for successful use of immunology in your future careers, be it practice, research, teaching and industry. You should have undergone courses such as physiology, hematology or clinical pathology, microbiology, biochemistry and cell biology. At the end of the course, you should be able to appreciate the strengths and weaknesses of our immune (defense) system and should it fail what the consequences are. To this end, the course material has been designed to help understand the ability of our immune system to defend against invading pathogens in a logical fashion. This includes our innate ability to defend against microorganisms (innate immunity); should this first line of defense fail, how we can fight infections (acquired immunity); if we react excessively, what price do we pay (hypersensitivity); if we misdirect our defense, what are the consequences (autoimmunity) and above all, can we prevent pathogens from attacking us (vaccination).