Public health significance of intestinal parasitic infections. WHO Expert Committee.

Intestinal parasitic infections are distributed virtually throughout the world, with high prevalence rates in many regions. Amoebiasis, ascariasis, hookworm infection and trichuriasis are among the ten most common infections in the world. Other parasitic infections such as abdominal angiostrongyliasis, intestinal capillariasis, and strongyloidiasis are of local or regional public health concern. The prevention and control of these infections are now more feasible than ever before owing to the discovery of safe and efficacious drugs, the improvement and simplification of some diagnostic procedures, and advances in parasite population biology.