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. 2011 Feb 21;121(3):848–850. doi: 10.1172/JCI46418

Figure 1. The immunopathology of hepatitis A and its relationship to allergic disease.

Figure 1

There is a reciprocal relationship between the incidence of hepatitis A and the prevalence of allergic disease, as evidenced by rates of each in the United States and Argentina (where the patients included in the Kim et al. study were recruited). A minority of HAV-infected individuals exhibit a very severe form of the disease, and there is compelling evidence that HAV infection protects from allergic diseases. The work by Kim et al. (6) suggests that both features are under the genetic control of TIM1.