title: The Hygiene Hypothesis and Its Inconvenient Truths about Helminth Infections.
abstract: Current iterations of the hygiene hypothesis suggest an adaptive role for helminth parasites in shaping the proper maturation of the immune system. However, aspects of this hypothesis are based on assumptions that may not fully account for realities about human helminth infections. Such realities include evidence of causal associations between helminth infections and asthma or inflammatory bowel disease as well as the fact that helminth infections remain widespread in the United States, especially among populations at greatest risk for inflammatory and autoimmune diseases.
authors.affiliation: Department of Immunology, University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas, United States of America.|The University of Texas Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences at Houston, Houston, Texas, United States of America.|Sabin Vaccine Institute and Texas Children's Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Departments of Pediatrics and Molecular Virology and Microbiology, National School of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, United States of America.
authors.forename: Neima
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Briggs
authors.affiliation: Sabin Vaccine Institute and Texas Children's Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Departments of Pediatrics and Molecular Virology and Microbiology, National School of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, United States of America.
authors.forename: Jill
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Weatherhead
authors.affiliation: Department of Immunology, University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas, United States of America.|The University of Texas Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences at Houston, Houston, Texas, United States of America.
authors.forename: K Jagannadha
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Sastry
authors.affiliation: Sabin Vaccine Institute and Texas Children's Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Departments of Pediatrics and Molecular Virology and Microbiology, National School of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, United States of America.|James A Baker III Institute for Public Policy, Rice University, Houston, Texas, United States of America.|Department of Biology, Baylor University, Waco, Texas, United States of America.|Scowcroft Institute of International Affairs, Bush School of Government and Public Service, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas, United States of America.
authors.forename: Peter J
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-8770-1042
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Hotez
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001249:Asthma / Q000469:parasitology*; D001327:Autoimmune Diseases / Q000469:parasitology* / Q000628:therapy; D006373:Helminthiasis / Q000276:immunology*; D006376:Helminths / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D061148:Hygiene Hypothesis; D007049:Iatrogenic Disease; D015212:Inflammatory Bowel Diseases / Q000469:parasitology; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic