How Helminths Alter Immunity to Infection: 828 (Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology, 828) - Hardcover

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 149391488X ISBN 13: 9781493914883

Publisher: Springer, 2014

Synopsis

Helminth infections are common, cause considerable pathology, and alter a host’s immune profile. This can have important consequences not only on the host’s ability to control a helminth infection, but also on their ability to control unrelated infections. In endemic areas, understanding how helminth infection influences the outcome of common infectious diseases and changes the efficacy of childhood vaccination programs is an important public health question.

This book reviews how host immunity to helminths alters our ability to respond to the major pathogens that exist in helminth endemic regions. Current understanding of how helminths alter important but relatively neglected contributors to the host’s anti-helminth immune responses are addressed, namely host antibody responses and how maternal infection may alter a child’s immune development. These are discussed in relation to the control of helminth infection and unrelated infections. Also covered are how helminth infections alter the host’s ability to control TB, HIV and malarial infections along with neglected bacterial infections, such as cholera, and how endemic helminth infections are likely to alter our ability to respond to life-saving vaccination strategies.

About this title

About the Author

William Horsnell is an immunologist at the University of Cape Town, South Africa. His research interests center on how parasitic helminth infections alter host immunity and the ability to control both the helminth and unrelated diseases.

From the Back Cover

Helminth infections are common, cause considerable pathology, and alter a host’s immune profile. This can have important consequences not only on the host’s ability to control a helminth infection, but also on their ability to control unrelated infections. In endemic areas, understanding how helminth infection influences the outcome of common infectious diseases and changes the efficacy of childhood vaccination programs is an important public health question. This book reviews how host immunity to helminths alters our ability to respond to the major pathogens that exist in helminth endemic regions. Current understanding of how helminths alter important but relatively neglected contributors to the host’s anti-helminth immune responses are addressed, namely host antibody responses and how maternal infection may alter a child’s immune development. These are discussed in relation to the control of helminth infection and unrelated infections. Also covered are how helminth infections alter the host’s ability to control TB, HIV, and malarial infections along with neglected bacterial infections, such as cholera, and how endemic helminth infections are likely to alter our ability to respond to life-saving vaccination strategies.

Edition details

• Publisher: Springer
• Publication date: 2014
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 149391488X
• ISBN 13: 9781493914883
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 152
• Editor: Horsnell William