👉 The hawk:infection hypothesis, proposed by immunologist David S. Hawk, suggests that chronic infections can trigger or exacerbate autoimmune diseases by altering the immune system's function. When an individual is infected, the body mounts a robust immune response to eliminate the pathogen. However, in some cases, this heightened immune activity can lead to the production of autoantibodies—immune molecules that mistakenly target the body's own tissues. This phenomenon, termed "hawk:infection," posits that persistent infections can act as environmental triggers for autoimmune conditions by inducing molecular mimicry, where pathogen proteins resemble host proteins, leading the immune system to attack both. For example, certain viral or bacterial infections have been linked to diseases like rheumatoid arthritis and multiple sclerosis, highlighting how prolonged immune activation can disrupt self-tolerance and contribute to chronic inflammation and tissue damage.
