Immunological Research Progress of Parasitic Diseases

Dear Colleagues,

Infections by parasites, starvation, insufficient shelter, and lack of clean water sources are the greatest barriers to health in our world’s growing population. Several parasitic infections that are very common throughout the world frequently occur with mild, obscure symptoms or none at all. It is common for a host to be asymptomatic, which makes more difficult both the diagnostic and the on-time treatment. Parasitic infections that are thought to be the most prevalent worldwide include toxoplasmosis, ascariasis, toxocariasis, hookworm disease, amoebiasis, and trichomoniasis. The scope of this topic could be immense, as there are hundreds of parasitic species that infect humans, and also because parasitic infections are considered one of the leading causes of high morbidity and mortality in underdeveloped countries, mainly in children and the elderly, affecting the physical and intellectual capabilities of such population and resulting in high expenses in treatment and rehabilitation. Moreover, in recent years the massive migration of people from the southern countries, where parasitic diseases are common, towards developed countries fueled that many parasitic infections are now reemerging and generating new health problems at a global level. The knowledge about parasitic diseases at different levels, such as life cycles, structures, molecular biology, development of new drugs and vaccines, and their ability to escape or modulate different mechanisms of defense of their hosts, is essential to the better development of therapies and diagnostics. The study of parasites is inconceivable without the participation of the immune system. However, every year it is more difficult to find an audience in immunology meetings for researchers working with parasitic infections; conversely, it is also difficult to find a place for the immunologists during parasitology meetings. That is one of the reasons for this special issue, put together leading researchers in the field of immunoparasitology, an area that needs to be fueled to accelerate the development of new vaccines as well as new drugs or even for the development of immunotherapy in parasitic diseases. In this current special issue, we will provide updates on several parasitic diseases through review papers as well as several original research papers.

Dr. Jorge Morales-Montor
Dr. Víctor Hugo Del Río-Araiza
Dr. Romel Hernandez-Bello
Guest Editors

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• epidemiology
• host-parasite interaction
• comorbidities and parasitism
• new drugs
• risk factors in parasitic diseases
• vaccines in parasitology
• immune response in paratenic hosts
• immune response in vectors (ticks, mosquitoes, etc)
• climate change and parasite infections
• environmental pollution and parasite infections
• inflammation and parasites
• sex associated susceptibility to parasites
• immune response to helminths
• immune response to protozoa