Progress made on worm infections

New research from a team at UT Southwestern Medical Centre has increased hope of eradicating worm infections.

A third of the world's population are affected by the parasites, but researchers believe a biochemical system can control the reproduction and development of the organisms.

In the journal the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, scientists led by Dr David Mangelsdorf, chairman of pharmacology at UT Southwestern, suggested that forcing worms to go into the "feeding" stage before entering a host could ensure they died.

"We essentially coaxed them to mature before a food source - the host - is available," he said.

"What keeps these parasites infectious is the lack of production of dafachronic acid. Once they get inside the host, however, something switches them on to begin making this compound. We can interrupt the worm's life cycle just by giving it this compound when it's in the infectious state, before it enters a host."

Around half of all sufferers of worm-related ailments are children, according to the World Health Organisation.

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