World Immunology Day 2026 | The good, the bad and the chronic

Inflammation is how your body responds to an ‘emergency’ such as an infection or damage to your tissues. An inflammatory response can be good for you by promoting immune pathways that clear bacteria, viruses or other infectious agents from your body. Inflammation also promotes the repair of damaged or wounded tissues.

However, there is a dark side to inflammation. It causes pain and sickness behaviours, and excessive inflammation can be harmful and even fatal in situations such as sepsis.

If inflammation is not properly controlled by the immune system, it can become chronic and cause debilitating diseases. For example, inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), asthma and rheumatoid arthritis are characterized by uncontrolled inflammation. Chronic inflammation also contributes to the development of metabolic diseases, such as type 2 diabetes, atherosclerosis and cardiovascular disease. As we age, changes in our immune system make us more likely to develop inflammatory diseases – scientists have referred to this process as ‘inflammaging’.

Many drugs used by clinicians, and even over-the-counter medicines, work by blocking inflammation. Examples include drugs such as ibuprofen, aspirin and steroids. Immunologists have helped to develop drugs that block specific components of the immune system that drive inflammation. For example, TNF inhibitors have been used to treat patients with rheumatoid arthritis and IBD. New drugs such as inflammasome inhibitors are showing promising results in clinical trials for various diseases.

Award winning BBC broadcaster Claudia Hammond will chair the discussion.

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Host or Publisher The Francis Crick Institute