This is the seventh symposium in a series of symposia on immunology organized by IMMUNO covering this time vaccination. This volume deals with antigen-host interaction and hepatitis immunisation, novel vaccine concepts and technologies, and vaccines for the twenty-first century.

The Symposia in Immunology were organized to bring important new information in the expanding field of immunology to practicing physicians interested in the field. Highly renowned basic scientists share their results with physicians conducting clinical research and thoses experienced in the treatment of the respective diseases. This series of symposia will cover different areas of immunology and will help to close the gap between the special achievements of scientists and the daily routine of practicing physicians.

In this book the most important papers presented at the 5th Symposium in Immunology, held April 7 - 8, 1995 in Strasbourg, France, are published. Theses papers are from leading experts in the fields covering topics ranging from basic mechanisms, such as the molecular anatomy of autoimmune diseases, to data relevant to the modern diagnosis, therapy, treatment, and prevention of viral infections. By collecting such a wide-range of papers the organizers of the meeting succeeded in compiling an integrated overview of current research, clinical studies, epidemiological data, and their interrelationship.

The articles in this volume represent papers delivered by invited speakers at the 7th International Symposium on the Immunobiology of Proteins and Peptides. In addition, a few of the abstracts submitted by participants were scheduled for minisymposia and some of the authors, whose presentations were judged by the Scientific Council to be of high quality, were invited to submit papers for publication in this volume. This symposium was established in 1976 for the purpose of bringing together, once every two or three years, active investigators in the forefront of contemporary immunology, to present their findings and discuss their significance in the light of current concepts and to identify important new directions of investigation. The founding of the symposium was stimulated by the achievement of major breakthroughs in the understanding of the immune recognition of proteins and peptides. We believed that these breakthroughs will lead to the creation of a new generation of peptide reagents which should have enormous potential in biological, therapeutic, and basic applications. This anticipated explosion has in fact since occurred and many applications of these peptides are now being realized. The seventh symposium focused on immune responses that have undesirable effects on the host, hence we named them unwanted immune responses. Two major aspects of unwanted immune responses were discussed at the symposium: Allergy and Autoimmunity.

This book, the last in a series of eight proceedings volumes, presents an up-to-date overview on immunology and inflammation based on a congress held in Budapest, Hungary in April 1998. It is divided into the following sections: Basic Mechanisms, Endo- and Exotoxins, Soluble Receptors, and Treatment Perspectives.