Ascaris: The Neglected Parasite

This book tackles a number of different perspectives concerning the parasitic helminth Ascaris, both in animals and in humans and the disease known as ascariasis. It seeks to identify interesting, exciting and novel aspects, which will interest readers from a broad range of disciplines.Over a quarter of the world's population are infected with the human roundworm, and the equivalent in pigs is equally ubiquitous. Both contribute to insidious and chronic nutritional morbidity, and this has been quantified, in humans, as disability adjusted life years approximating 10.5 million. Ascaris larvae develop in host parenteral tissues, and the resultant pathology has been condemnation. Ascariasis, despite its staggering global prevalence and the sheer numbers of people it infects, remains a classic neglected disease. However, renewed interest in the consequences of early infection with worms from the perspective of immune modulation, co-infections and the development of allergy further enhances the relevance of these parasites.- Brings together a wide range of topics and approaches and recent, comprehensive and progressive research concerning the neglected parasite Ascaris- Provides a blueprint of how a single parasite entity can stimulate interest in basic biology, clinical science, veterinary science, public health and epidemiology- Presents a wealth of new insights given that a book on this parasite has not been published for over 20 years- 16 chapters from a range of top authors from around the world

About the Author

Professor Celia Holland, BSc, PhD, MRIA is a Professor of Parasitology at Trinity College Dublin and currently Head of School of Natural Sciences, Trinity College. Her main research interests are in the epidemiology and control of the soil-transmitted helminths including Ascaris and Toxocara. She is also involved in the development of laboratory models for larval ascarids and aspects of ecological parasitology including helminth community structure. She was elected to Fellowship of Trinity College and as a member of the Royal Irish Academy, in recognition of her research. Professor Holland is an Invited Expert on the WHO Advisory Panel on Parasitic Diseases and currently Secretary General of the European Federation of Parasitology. She is an Editor of the journal Parasitology (CUP). She was previously President and Secretary of the Irish Society for Parasitology. Author of over 100 publications including peer-reviewed journal articles, books, and book chapters on parasitology and related topics; including the senior editorship of “Toxocara the enigmatic parasite” and “The Geohelminths: Ascaris, Trichuris and Hookworm” as part of the World Class Parasites series.