Parasitic Diseases

This paper comprises 5 parts. Major policy issues raised by parasitic disease in relation to child mortality are addressed in the 1st part. Incomplete immunity and superinfection are outlined as 2 features of parasitic infections the consequences of which are to give a very high prevalence to the point that incidence becomes difficult to measure except in very young children. The diseases due to animal parasites may affect the survival of children by giving rise to an initial fatal infection. However the vast majority of parasitic diseases produce their effect in an indirect and chronic manner making it hard to determine and easy to underestimate their consequences. Malaria and its consequences are elaborated on. The research implications of what is known about malaria in mothers and children are diverse and lead to operational policy implications. Issues of priority research include the scale of malarial mortality and the mechanisms by which malaria produces its effects especially on the fetus and the best way to prevent its effects on children at low cost. In the case of most other parasites affecting children the key questions concern the nutritional and growth impact of a heavy burden of helminths and protozoa. Research should focus on how to provide readily available early chemotherapy for symptomatic malaria. The 2nd section summarizes the commoner parasites infecting man and their contributions to childhood mortality. The following 2 sections deal in detail with the 2 major routes by which child mortality is related to parasitic disease. Malaria has been unequivocally recognized as the 1 human parasitic disease directly responsible for large-scale mortality among children in tropical areas. The discussion centers on the pattern of infection transmission levels and the consequences of endemic malaria on infant and fetal death. The results of various studies dealing with these issues are reviewed and those from projects concerning malaria control summarized. Other parasitic infections do not appear to be significant as direct causes of mortality in children under 5. Nonetheless their combined prevalence far exceeds the current size of the world population indicating that multiple infection must be the norm throughout much of the developing world. The synergistic effect between parasitic infections and malnutrition is elaborated; it is perhaps through this route that such infections contribute indirectly to observed levels of childhood mortality. A final section focuses on the measurement issues (detection and techniques) involved in assessing the intensity of infection

Biology · Environmental health · Geography · Child Nutrition and Water Access · Environmental Science · Global Health and Epidemiology · Medicine · Parasites and Host Interactions

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