Epidemic of Absence

This book delves into the dramatic increase in allergic and autoimmune diseases, attributing it to the loss of critical immune stimuli as societies modernized.

Velasquez-Manoff discusses how the absence of certain parasites and microbes, which were once part of the human microbiota, may have led to immune system malfunctions.

The book examines various aspects, including the lower prevalence of allergies in farmers' children, the impact of modern hygiene practices, and the potential benefits of restoring the human ecosystem through controversial therapies such as deliberate infection with parasitic worms.

It also touches on the link between immune system dysfunction and conditions like autism and cancer, and the fetal origins of allergic diseases.