Fabrizio Bruschi
Editor

2014

The helminths are comprised of two distantly related taxa, the roundworm Nemathelminthes and the flatworm Platyhelminthes, the latter being divided into cestodes (tapeworms) and trematodes (flukes). Although these groups diverged evolutionarily many hundreds of millions of years ago, their patterns of transmission, infection, and pathogenesis are in many ways similar. Furthermore, the host immune responsiveness to these pathogens follows a typical pattern which is dominated by a Type 2 (Th2) profile with a significant regulatory (Treg) component.