The Seven Most Neglected Tropical Parasitic Diseases:
Medscape slideshow (dated 2-25-14) with a synopsis for each of the seven most common tropical parasitic diseases: http://www.medscape.com/features/slideshow/neglected-tropical-diseases#1
These diseases include three helminth infections (ascariasis, hookworm, trichuriasis), schistosomiasis, lymphatic filariasis, onchocerciasis, & trachoma.
The authors claim these diseases disproportionately affect impoverished rural & tropical regions of the world that have substandard housing, crowded living conditions, inadequate hygiene & sanitation, unsafe water supplies, & an abundance of insects.
What galls me is the medical community, even now in the 21st century, refuses to acknowledge the fact that parasitic diseases occur worldwide & to people of all social classes, irregardless of their economic status, living conditions, geographic location, & environment!#?
Just add this rant to my long list of others about the real reasons why parasitic diseases are rampant worldwide:
Delusional Parasitosis - Medical Misdiagnosis of Parasite Infections: http://curezone.com/forums/fm.asp?i=1592951#i
Parasistic Diseases - Ignored In America: http://curezone.com/forums/fm.asp?i=1625158#i
No Cheers Here - ICU

My Curezone Posts: http://curezone.org/forums/s2.asp?f=762&c=0&ob=d&m=ICU
My Parasite Drug Treatment Protocols: http://curezone.com/forums/fm.asp?i=2012403
Threader -
Unable to copy the slideshow of pics. Here's the text:
"The 7 Neglected Tropical Diseases:
With the creation of the Millennium Development goals in 2000, it became clear that a group of neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) had to be attacked alongside HIV and malaria.[1] The 7 most notable NTDs include 3 helminth infections (ascariasis, hookworm, trichuriasis), schistosomiasis, lymphatic filariasis, onchocerciasis, and trachoma. Although mortality is relatively low, morbidity and the public health burden of NTDs are extremely high. These diseases disproportionately affect the most impoverished rural and tropical regions of the world, characterized by substandard housing, crowded living conditions, inadequate hygiene and sanitation, unsafe water supplies, and an abundance of insects.[2] These often stigmatizing diseases trap people in poverty through their impact on maternal and child health, disability, and occupational productivity.[3]
Ascariasis
Ascariasis (roundworm infection) is caused by Ascaris lumbricoides, the largest parasitic nematode to inhabit the human intestine.[4] Fertilized eggs are ingested after hand-to-mouth transfer of soil or by eating unwashed or raw foods. Ingested eggs hatch in the duodenum, and the larvae migrate to the liver and lungs and then into the esophagus, or are coughed up and swallowed.[5] Back in the small intestine, larvae mature into adult worms. A large infestation forms a bolus that can cause intestinal obstruction, hepatobiliary and pancreatic ascariasis, appendicitis, peritoneal granuloma, volvulus, or intussusception. In children, the worms impair absorption of nutrients and delay growth and cognitive development . Ascariasis is diagnosed by identifying ova in a stool sample. Antihelminthic agents (albendazole and mebendazole) are the recommended treatments. Ascariasis flourishes in areas with poor sanitation or where crops are irrigated by improperly treated wastewater.[6]
Image courtesy of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Public Health Image Library
Hookworm
Hookworm (Necator americanus or Ancylostoma duodenale) is another soil-transmitted parasitic worm that is acquired through intact skin (by walking barefoot on contaminated soil) or by ingestion.[7] Larvae enter the circulation and travel to the heart and lungs, from where they reach the small intestine after being swallowed. Larvae attach to the duodenal mucosa and develop into adult hookworms by consuming human blood, causing gastrointestinal bleeding and anemia in their hosts. Children and women of childbearing age are most vulnerable to hookworm-induced anemia, and chronic infection causes not only malnutrition but also impaired physical and cognitive development. The hookworm's ability to modify the human immune system aids it in maintaining a chronic parasitic infection.[8] Hookworm can be treated with antihelminthic drugs, but reinfection occurs rapidly after treatment. For this reason, work on a vaccine to treat and prevent the infection is ongoing.[8]
Image courtesy of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Public Health Image Library
Lymphatic filariasis
Lymphatic filariasis (elephantiasis) is a painful, debilitating, and disfiguring disease caused by infection with threadlike worms known as filariae.[9] Mosquitoes bite infected humans and pick up the microfilariae, which then hatch inside the mosquito and migrate to the insect's mouth. When the mosquito bites another person, the microfilariae enter the host and migrate to the lymph nodes, where they develop into adults and progressively damage the lymphatic system.[10] Most infected people are asymptomatic, but some develop lymphedema of the legs, arms, breasts, and genitalia. Renal disease, with proteinuria and hematuria, is also common. Diagnosis is made by identifying microfilariae in a blood smear or by serology for antifilarial IgG4. The infection can be treated with a combination of albendazole and diethylcarbamazine, although these drugs have no effect on lymphedema.
Image courtesy of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Onchocerciasis
Onchocerciasis (river blindness) is caused by the parasitic worm Onchocerca volvulus, which is transmitted by blackflies that live near fast-moving streams.[11] Humans become infected when blackflies bite and deposit infective larvae into their skin. In the body, the larvae mature into adults in 3 months to 1 year. Adult worms live in fibrous nodules under the skin that form to protect the worms from the human immune response. Chronic inflammation can cause a pruritic rash and skin depigmentation (a "leopard-like" appearance), with loss of elasticity and aging that culminate in stigmatizing skin disfigurement.[11] Microfilariae enter every part of the eye, except the lens, and cause inflammation, bleeding and other complications. The result is impaired vision and, eventually, bilateral blindness from corneal opacities, cataract, chorioretinal degeneration, and optic atrophy.[12] Diagnosis is made by skin biopsy to identify larvae, surgical removal of nodules, or examining the eyes for larvae. Treatment is typically ivermectin given every 6 months, with or without doxycycline.
Image from Allen JE, et al. PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2008;2: e217
Schistosomiasis
Schistosomiasis (bilharzia, or "snail fever") is caused by flatworms, whose larvae (cercaria) are harbored and released into rivers or lakes by snails, the intermediate hosts for this infection.[13] Cercarial shedding requires light, so people are typically infected by swimming or bathing in infested waters when the sun is high.[13] Initial penetration of human skin can produce urticaria. The parasite migrates to the circulation, where the larvae develop into male and female adult worms, which pair up in a permanent embrace and produce eggs. Although there are 6 species of Schistosoma, most human infections are caused by S mansoni, S haematobium, or S japonicum.[13] Depending on the species, eggs travel to the intestine or bladder and are excreted in the stool or urine, or they lodge in the tissues, causing inflammation, scarring, and urogenital damage. The diagnosis is made by examination of stool and urine for ova or by serologic testing, and the drug treatment for all species is praziquantel.
Image from Lewis FA, et al. PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2008;2:e267
Trachoma
Trachoma is the most common infectious cause of blindness in the world. Often starting in childhood, Chlamydia trachomatis is believed to be transmitted by direct spread to the eye during close contact with eye discharge on the fingers or shared objects, or by contact with contaminated eye-seeking flies.[14] Recurrent inflammation in chronic infection causes progressive conjunctival scarring and trichiasis, which leads to blinding opacification of the cornea.[15] Self-epilation of the eyelashes is not uncommon in endemic countries.[16] Ribosomal RNA-based nucleic acid amplification tests are more sensitive for the detection of ocular chlamydial infection.[17] Antibiotics with antichlamydial activity include 1% tetracycline eye ointment or a single oral dose of azithromycin. Treatment may also require surgery for trichiasis. Trachoma is rampant in areas of crowded living conditions, with inadequate hygiene of nasal and ocular discharge.[15]
Image courtesy of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Trichuriasis
Trichuriasis is an infection with Trichuris trichiura (human whipworm), another soil-transmitted helminth. Whipworms reside in the colon; their eggs are excreted and end up in the soil when human feces are used as fertilizer. After maturing into an infective form, the eggs can be ingested from soil-contaminated hands or unwashed vegetables, completing the cycle.[17] Swallowed eggs hatch in the small intestine, and the larvae travel to the colon, mature, and burrow into the ascending colon and cecum. Depending on the worm load, infected individuals can be asymptomatic or experience abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, bloody diarrhea, weight loss, or rectal prolapse. Children can become severely anemic and malnourished and suffer poor growth. Immune suppression is believed to play a role in the degree of infestation.[18] The diagnosis is made by identifying the ova in a stool sample, and treatment requires a 3-day course of albendazole, mebendazole, or ivermectin.
Image courtesy of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Public Health Image Library"
My Parasite Drug Treatment Protocols for above infections: http://curezone.com/forums/fm.asp?i=2012403
Cheers - ICU