ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the parasitic diseases of mankind. A selection has therefore been made of those diseases where progress has been made in developing vaccines and where there is the greatest need. Unfortunately for man, the state of harmony is rarely achieved and in many parasitic infections it is the response of the host which is responsible for the immunopathology which causes the disease. There has been more progress with antiparasitic vaccines in veterinary medicine but mainly with living attenuated organisms which are only partially effective and which produce a level of pathogenicity which would be unacceptable in human vaccination programs. Although there have been major advances in the control of malaria it remains the most important parasitic disease in the tropics and almost half the world's population is living in areas where the disease is endemic. The most prevalent human helminths are the intestinal nematodes and particularly the roundworms Ascaris, the whipworm Trichurus, and the hookworms Ancylostoma and Necator.
