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Good Worms or Bad Worms: Do Worm Infections Affect the Epidemiological Patterns of Other Diseases?

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Worms and Immunoregulation

So, does chronic, life-long exposure to massive amounts of helminth antigen have any generalized immunoregulatory consequences? We know that infection results in potent, highly polarized immune responses characterized by elevated T-helper cell type 2 (Th2) cytokine and IgE production, eosinophilia and, in some cases, mastocytosis. Although, historically, research in this area has focused on whether or not these responses have consequences for the parasites – an issue that remains largely

Worms, TB and HIV

These observations suggest that helminth infection modifies the host responses to HIV and TB, and contributes to the spread of these diseases3, 11 (Fig. 1). The effect is said to be caused by a combination of increased susceptibility, decreased protection and faster disease progression11. The evidence for such an effect is drawn from a series of observations: (1) HIV and TB are more common, progression to AIDS more rapid and reactivation of latent TB more frequent in populations where helminths

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