The Challenge of Intracellular Pathogens

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Abstract
THE survival of intracellular pathogens in the host depends on their ability to avoid being killed before or after they invade mononuclear phagocytes; these cells are critical in this respect. In some circumstances the organisms are able to replicate intracellularly; this results in their dissemination and in disease.1 The phenomenon of facultative intracellular parasitism is found in many classes of infectious agents, including viruses (herpesvirus, cytomegalovirus, and the human immunodeficiency virus), bacteria (listeria, legionella, and mycobacteria), fungi (histoplasma and cryptococcus), and protozoa (toxoplasma and leishmania). Despite the marked biologic differences among these organisms, they use a common pathway to establish . . .