Immunity to Parasites
How Parasitic Infections are Controlled

An advanced undergraduate textbook which describes how hosts' immune-systems control parasitic infections.

Derek Wakelin (Author)

9780521436359, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 13 August 1996

224 pages, 80 b/w illus. 29 tables
22.9 x 15.2 x 1.3 cm, 0.34 kg

'… fascinating in the details of host and parasite adjustment and co-evolution.' Dennis Cotton, Biologist

Parasites cause many important diseases in humans and domestic animals, malaria being an example. Parasites have evolved to exploit hosts' bodies whereas hosts have evolved immune systems to control infections. Host-parasite interactions therefore provide fascinating examples of evolutionary 'arms-races' in which the immune system plays a key role. Modern research in immunoparasitology is directed towards understanding and exploiting the capacity to develop effective anti-parasite immunity. By concentrating on selected infections where research has made significant progress, Immunity to Parasites provides a clear account of how host immune responses operate and how parasites can evade immunity. The experimental basis of this research is emphasised throughout. This completely updated second edition includes an expanded section on anti-parasite vaccines. The text is aimed at undergraduates and postgraduates with interests in either parasitology or immunology and provides introductory sections on these topics to lead the reader into the later chapters.

Preface to the Second Edition
Preface to the First Edition
1. Parasites and parasitism
2. The immune response
3. Experimental immunoparasitology
4. Intracellular Protozoa
5. African trypanosomes
6. Schistosomes
7. Gastrointestinal nematodes
8. Nematodes which invade tissue
9. Ectoparasitic arthropods
10. Immunological control of parasitic infections
References.

Subject Areas: Parasitology [non-medical PSGH], Medical parasitology [MMFP]