Parasitic infections constitute a relevant part of Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs), both those officially enlisted by the WHO and not currently included in this list. Often considered a problem in low and middle income countries, NTDs have a paradoxical high disease burden also in wealthy countries, as framed by the “blue marble health” concept.
While often considered together, these diseases are caused by an extremely heterogeneous group of agents, with peculiar biological cycles and clinical diseases. Similarly heterogeneous are the state-of-the-art and research gaps for their diagnosis, clinical management, and control in different settings, as well as the current effort and resources invested by the research community and stakeholders for each of them. In recent years, much attention has been posed to the need of integrating strategies for the management of different NTDs, but still many of them are perceived as “niche” topics, prerogative of a few groups studying and managing them.
In this Research Topic, we aim to offer an overview of the current state-of-the-art, cutting-edge achievements, and research gaps in the field of parasitic NTDs, welcoming position papers supported by narrative reviews from experts in different fields (epidemiology, control, diagnosis, treatment) of parasitic NTDs. We encourage experts in the field to liaise with colleagues from different background and expertise, to provide a comprehensive overview for their topic of interest. Such collection will provide an exceptional opportunity to take stock of the situation of different parasitic NTDs, individuating burning research questions with practical impact for the management of these infections, as well as opportunities for synergy and integration between fields.
Parasitic infections constitute a relevant part of Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs), both those officially enlisted by the WHO and not currently included in this list. Often considered a problem in low and middle income countries, NTDs have a paradoxical high disease burden also in wealthy countries, as framed by the “blue marble health” concept.
While often considered together, these diseases are caused by an extremely heterogeneous group of agents, with peculiar biological cycles and clinical diseases. Similarly heterogeneous are the state-of-the-art and research gaps for their diagnosis, clinical management, and control in different settings, as well as the current effort and resources invested by the research community and stakeholders for each of them. In recent years, much attention has been posed to the need of integrating strategies for the management of different NTDs, but still many of them are perceived as “niche” topics, prerogative of a few groups studying and managing them.
In this Research Topic, we aim to offer an overview of the current state-of-the-art, cutting-edge achievements, and research gaps in the field of parasitic NTDs, welcoming position papers supported by narrative reviews from experts in different fields (epidemiology, control, diagnosis, treatment) of parasitic NTDs. We encourage experts in the field to liaise with colleagues from different background and expertise, to provide a comprehensive overview for their topic of interest. Such collection will provide an exceptional opportunity to take stock of the situation of different parasitic NTDs, individuating burning research questions with practical impact for the management of these infections, as well as opportunities for synergy and integration between fields.
