Periodic Fever Syndromes and Autoinflammatory Syndromes

Periodic fever syndromes are diseases which cause episodic fever and inflammation,  The fever is not caused by an infection. In general people  with these syndromes are well between episodes. Many of these syndromes are hereditary and are caused by a genetic mutation.  Many of these syndromes have a specific treatment, often based on understanding the problem caused by the genetic defect.

Autoinflammatory diseases are a relatively new category of diseases that are different from autoimmune diseases. These diseases are also linked to a genetic defect and are often hereditary.  However, autoimmune and autoinflammatory diseases share common characteristics in that both groups of disorders result from the immune system attacking the body’s own tissues, and also result in increased inflammation.