Worms, diseases that affect billions of people worldwide, have made little progress in clinical research. Among the reasons why this has happened is that they reach poor populations and do not attract money from pharmaceutical companies. The warning in the study published in the magazine Drug Discovery Today by researchers from the University of São Paulo (USP) and the University of Guarulhos, has the support of the São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP).
The work is part of a context launched by the World Health Organization (WHO), in 2021, an action plan to eliminate or control, by 2030, 20 diseases associated with one in in five people of the world nearly 500 thousand die each year. . Of the 20 diseases, five that affect most people in their prime are worms. One of the strategies used in the search for new cures was to revise traditional medicine, by studying current cures for these forgotten diseases.
“Among the many goals that have been put on the WHO roadmap is the search for new cures, because many of these diseases do not have a vaccine and a cure that is said to be very effective. effective, but not enough to control the disease, not least because there is no 100% effective cure ”, says Josué de Moraes, who co -founded the Nucleus for Research in forgotten diseases (NPDN) at the University of Guarulhos, one of the authors of the article.
schistosomiasis
Moraes discusses, for example, the cause of schistosomiasis, which is said to be the main cause of infection and disease. “While ascariasis, the roundworm, affects a much larger population, nearly a billion people, schistosomiasis has a greater impact on health,” he explains. There is only one cure for the disease, and that is praziquantel. “Imagine a cure for a population of more than 200 million”, he compares. In addition, the medication does not affect the youthful form of paralysis and prevents treatment from the onset of the disease.
The researcher points out that, among the effects of the worms, is that they impair the mental development of children, have a chance to lower school rates and can even lead to retirement. from work. “I continue to say that these diseases are not only exacerbated in conditions of poverty, but are also a sign that they are a serious obstacle to the development of countries and, therefore, a definite decision to keep inequality. “, he reviewed.
Among the issues that hinder the development of research in the field of parasitology, Moraes makes four points. “Verminoses are the most overlooked, they are usually a type of disease that is associated with a higher cause of poverty than others”, he points out, is the first prevention. He also points out that the disease does not arise in a sudden state. “They don’t show interest in the population there.” He remembers some areas and found worms to be common, every day.
Another difficulty occurs in laboratories. “Worms are difficult to care for. It is more difficult to keep the worm in the laboratory, unlike some diseases caused by protozoa, such as malaria, leishmaniasis, Chagas disease, etc. ”, for example. Finally the biological knowledge of worms is bad. “When it’s available, you have to have a permanent host, which means we use a rat and an intermediate host, for schistosomiasis, a snail.” Moraes also exaggerates the anger evoked by worms in individuals.
The researcher is keen to remember that other public health practices, such as diagnosis, management of transmission vectors and natural cleansing, are important in dealing with these diseases. “We have 30 million Brazilians living without access to safe drinking water. Nearly half of the population does not have access to paralysis. And this confirms this picture, which I say is sad, about verminoses ”, he reviews.