5th OHE HEALTH CONFERENCE. INTERCONNECTING SPECIES: THE ROLE OF INTRACELLULAR PARASITES IN GLOBAL HEALTH

Zoonosis represents a major issue of illness and death in public health within tropical and subtropical areas. Although intracellular parasites pose the greatest threat to human health, these diseases are often underdiagnosed because of the expensive tests, particularly in Latin America. Intracellular parasites impact animals and humans equally in terms of severity. The WHO estimates that around 2.8 billion people are infected by geohelminths, which includes 1.2 million with Ascaris lumbricoides, 2 million with Trichuris trichiura, and 50 million with hookworm. Approximately 200 million individuals are affected by schistosomiasis, 120 million by lymphatic filariasis, and 38 million by Onchocerca volvulus (river blindness). Worldwide, 20 to 30% are infected with Toxoplasma gondii; annually, there are 300–500 million new malaria cases, resulting in over one million deaths among children under 5 years due to this parasitic disease. In Latin America, approximately 10 to 15 million individuals are infected with Trypanosoma cruzi. Additionally, scabies impacts over 300 million infected individuals annually. These presentations will enable participants to understand the epidemiology, signs, symptoms, and significance of intracellular parasites from a multidisciplinary viewpoint.