What are Soil-transmitted Helminthes?

Introduction
Key words: Soil-transmitted helminthes, YLDs, DALYs, diarrhea, mebendazole, ash
Soil, the outermost covering of the earth`s surface, is beneficial to man and other animals for support, agriculture, shelter and precious minerals. Unfortunately, same harborssome disease-causing helminthes-Ascaris lumbricoides (roundworm), Trichuristrichiura (whipworm) and Necator americanes, Ankylostomaduodenale, Ankylostoma caninum (hookworms). The global disease burden is so huge the Ascarisis, a soil-borne helminth account for over one billion cases; the highest for any parasitic infection (Microbiology & Immunology online, 2014). Rather curiously, this high disease burden is reported less than less prevalent infections like malaria-causing plasmodium and HIV/ AIDS infections. This anomaly may be due to malaria`s higher mortality rate since helminth infections are less fatal than most pathogens.
Their low mortality rates notwithstanding, there is need to pay some attention to the soil-transmitted helminths because they cause huge physiologic, social and economic damage especially impairment (years lived with disability, YLDs). In this paper, I will discuss a representative soil-transmitted pathogen(Ascaris lumbricoides) under the subheadings-morphology, geographical distribution, lifecycle etc. I will then highlight the disease burden-the numbers of infected persons across the world,thanks to better cartography and mathematical modeling presently available.
I will discuss the various remedies employed in combating helminthes infections-preventive and corrective measures. I will also proffer novel methods of averting and controlling soil-transmitted infections.
Discussion
Background
Soil-transmitted helminths are nematode...

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...r the infected). It then follows that these rather common infections consume a large chunk of public health budget.These infections are spread across the world but are disproportionately concentrated in the developing world with Africa having more than its fair share.Medical personnel will commit a lot time to deal with these cases; drugs and other accessories will be sunk into combatting these infections.
Prevention ordinarily would have been the mainstay but this may be difficult to achieve especially in rural Africa where poverty and low literacy levels make prevention unrealistic. Then drug intervention must come in and that means huge costs.
The solution to soil-transmitted helminthes infections, just like every other infection is multi-pronged- a motley mixture of prevention, drug intervention and clinical observation and education to check re-infection.