The Future of Parasitology: Challenges and Opportunities.

Abstract

Parasites are being increasingly recognized as important pathogens with significant global economic, environmental, and public health impacts (1). More than three billion people worldwide are infected with one or more parasites with varying morbidity and mortality. For example, it was estimated that 740–1300 million people are infected with hookworms (Ancylostoma duodenale, Necator americanus), 1221–1472 million with roundworm (Ascaris lumbricoides), and 795–1050 million with whipworm (Trichuris trichiura) (2). Climate-related changes, the associated threat of vectors and vector-borne diseases (3–6), the escalating number of emerging or reemerging parasitic infections (7, 8), the alarming speed at which anti-parasitic drug resistance develops and spreads (9), and the astronomical cost of developing new anti-parasitic drugs; are just some of the challenges that make the future for treatment and control of many parasitic diseases uncertain. In the meantime, parasitology teaching and research are in a state of flux (merging, retrenchment, re-direction). This is reflected in the continued downward trend in the number of parasitology graduates and in the changing focus of the research programs, driven by limited governmental and charity funds, in industry, academic, and federal labs that used to have strong interests in solving parasitological problems. These difficulties make the scientific challenges for those trained and qualified in this discipline enormous. Given these challenges, parasitic diseases are likely to continue to be difficult to control and, thus, new scientific knowledge will be needed to enhance control efforts. Unfortunately, knowledge gaps still exist and these need addressing in order to answer persistent questions in parasite pathobiology and control. In this article, I will discuss some of these eminent challenges and propose new concepts that could open new windows for exploration and discovery in this exciting field.