Parasitic infections are a major global health burden. The impact of debilitating diseases caused by parasites is greatest among those who struggle to meet their daily basic needs and access basic health care services in low-income countries. However, persons who have or are at risk for parasitic infections are present in every income and social strata, and residents of the United States and other developed nations are not unaffected. For some persons living in the United States, these parasitic infections are acquired in their own immediate environment; for example, exposure to feces from domestic dogs or cats puts children at risk for toxocariasis and toxo-plasmosis. For others, chronic parasitic infections acquired years ago in other areas of the world can manifest with severe illness later in life, such as neurocysticercosis leading to adult-onset epilepsy or Chagas disease leading to severe cardio-myopathy requiring heart transplant. We know much less than we should about the health and economic burden and impact of parasitic diseases in developed countries, including the United States (Table 1).
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