The Hygiene Hypothesis and Its Inconvenient Truths about Helminth Infections.
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ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Briggs N
PROVIDER: S-EPMC5025185 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Sep
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
Publications
The Hygiene Hypothesis and Its Inconvenient Truths about Helminth Infections.
Briggs Neima N Weatherhead Jill J Sastry K Jagannadha KJ Hotez Peter J PJ
PLoS neglected tropical diseases 20160915 9
Current iterations of the hygiene hypothesis suggest an adaptive role for helminth parasites in shaping the proper maturation of the immune system. However, aspects of this hypothesis are based on assumptions that may not fully account for realities about human helminth infections. Such realities include evidence of causal associations between helminth infections and asthma or inflammatory bowel disease as well as the fact that helminth infections remain widespread in the United States, especial ...[more]
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