Status of Vaccine Research and Development of Vaccines for Human Hookworm Infection Prepared for WHO PD-VAC I. About the Disease and Pathogen

Human hookworm infection is a neglected tropical disease caused predominantly by the nematode parasite Necator americanus [1]. New estimates indicate that approximately 440 million people are infected with hookworm worldwide with the majority of cases found in the developing regions of South Asia (140 million cases), Sub-Saharan Africa (118 million), Southeast Asia (77 million), East Asia (64.5 million), and the Latin American and Caribbean region (30 million) [2,3]. In these areas, hookworm infection is a leading cause of iron-deficiency anemia, caused by the ability of adult hookworms to extract blood from the intestinal mucosa and submucosa [4]. At 3.2 million disability adjusted life years (DALYs), the Global Burden of Disease Study 2010 has found that hookworm (together with Leishmaniasis and Schistosomiasis) is the most important neglected tropical disease [2,3].