Genetics of parasitic infections

Parasites cause much suffering mainly in countries of the southern hemisphere. Hundreds of millions of individuals are infected by schistosomes, leishmanias, plasmodiums, trypanosomes, and various other parasites, and severe clinical disease occurs in a sizable fraction of the infected population causing death and severe sequelae. The outcome, asymptomatic, subclinical or clinical disease, of an infection depends mostly on the parasite and on its host. Several groups analyzing the genetics of human susceptibility to parasites have began to identify the critical steps of the pathogenic mechanisms in a few parasitic infections such as malaria and schistosomiasis. The present article, which is not meant to be an exhaustive review of the field, illustrates the progresses made in this field from pioneer studies in animals to works in endemic populations using modern strategies of human genetics.