Soil - transmitted helminths are a serious but understudied health concern in South Africa

Parasitic roundworms and flatworms, defined broadly as helminths, are estimated to infect over 1 billion people worldwide, and are particularly prevalent in developing, resource-strained communities. The consequences of these infections are immense and wide reaching, resulting in massive reductions in local and global economic productivity and contributing to millions of deaths per year. Helminth diseases can also reduce vaccine efficacy and heighten morbidity rates of other serious illnesses, including tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS. Here, we argue that South Africa, which has one the highest rates of both HIV/AIDS and helminth infections on earth, needs to allocate more energy and resources into studying soil-transmitted helminths. Using PubMed and GenBank statistics, we show that the current South African research output on soil-transmitted helminths pales in comparison to that on HIV and tuberculosis. Basic research on helminth biology as well as on the social and environmental effects associated with infections could greatly reduce the burden of HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and other major illnesses in South Africa and beyond. The onus is on scientists, funding agencies, and governing bodies to channel efforts into studies on soil-transmitted helminths. 1,2 3