Infectious Diseases and HIV Conference

Parasitic infections continue to be a significant burden in public health, mainly in tropical and subtropical regions.

In this session, greater emphasis is placed on covering the epidemiology of parasitic infections, diagnostic challenges, and new developments in treatment strategies. Parasites are highly heterogeneous and often cause significant harm by their presence on or within the host. In general, parasites can be grouped into three broad categories: protozoa, helminthes, and ectoparasites.

This session will focus on the four most important parasitic infections: malaria, schistosomiasis, leishmaniasis, and intestinal helminthic infections; it will focus in particular on modes of transmission, clinical presentations, and public health impact. Epidemiological data also indicates millions of people around the world suffer from parasitic diseases, with heavy morbidity and mortality.

Risks associated with parasitic infections will be discussed in this session while aspects such as poverty, malnutrition, and environmental changes contribute to disease burden. Accurate diagnosis is the most important factor in effective management of parasitic infections, though traditional diagnostic techniques have well-known limitations about sensitivity and specificity.

Participants will learn about recent diagnostic techniques, such as molecular assays and rapid diagnostic tests that increase detection rates and lead to prompt treatment.

A new landscape of treatment in antiphrastic therapy is opening. Traditional treatment drugs are recognized as working well, but drug resistance, toxic effects, and the need to explore new treatments make this session focus on combinations, novel drug candidates, and improvements in the development of vaccines to combat parasitic diseases.

This will also be a context in which to highlight the requirement for intervention and control measures; vector control strategies and health education will emerge as some of the mentioned measures.

Cultivating partnership between researches, clinicians, and public health officers will strengthen our response towards parasitic infections and better health results for affected populations.

Join the discussion: an appreciation of the complexities of parasitic infections and contribution to strategies aimed at containing the impact on global health.