Harnessing the Helminth Secretome for Therapeutic Immunomodulators

Table 1

Overview of the most common human pathogenic helminths.

Organism	Number of people infected; (in millions)	Disease pathology
Nematoda
Ascaris lumbricoides	807–1121	Impaired digestion, anemia, iron deficiency, poor growth, cough, fever, abdominal discomfort, and passing of worms
Trichuris trichiura	795–1050
Necator americanus	740–1300
Ancylostoma duodenale
Strongyloides stercoralis	30–100
Wuchereria bancrofti, Brugia malayi, Brugia timori	120	Chronic lymphoedema, elephantiasis of limbs, and hydrocele
Onchocerca volvulus	37	Dermal pathology characterized by pruritus, altered pigmentation, atrophy, and lymphadenitis.; Ocular lesions leading to sclerosing keratitis, chorioretinitis, optic nerve disease, and blindness
Schistosoma mansoni, Schistosoma haematobium, Schistosoma japonicum	207	Intestinal schistosomiasis characterized by abdominal pain, diarrhoea, and liver enlargement
Trematoda
Fasciola hepatica, Fasciola gigantica	2.4–17	Fascioliasis characterized by fever, abdominal pains, and hepatomegaly
Paragonimus spp.	23	Chronic cough, chest pain with dyspnoea, and fever
Opisthorchis viverrini	10	Palpable liver, obstructive jaundice, cirrhosis, and cholangitis
Clonorchis sinensis	15.3	Clonorchiasis characterized by fever and colic pain
Cestoda
Taenia solium, Taenia saginata	Not determined	Cysticercosis characterized by infection of the central nervous system
Echinococcus multilocularis, Echinococcus granulosus		Alveolar echinococcosis and cystic echinococcosis

Modified according to Perbandt et al. 2014 [7] and CDC report 2013.