• Question: how many people a day get infected by parasites?

    Asked by Nikkita to Franco on 14 Jun 2016.
    • Photo: Franco Falcone

      Franco Falcone answered on 14 Jun 2016:


      Hi Nikkita
      that’s a good question, but very difficult to answer. It is easier to answer the question how many people are infected with parasites, and even that is difficult as it would be too difficult and expensive to test everyone with diagnostic tests, but luckily we have epidemiologists like Mark who can do this sort of calculation. Bearing in mind that already being infected with a parasite does not protect you against being re-infected, I would say that a few hundred million people may get infected and re-infected on a daily basis, but it’s difficult to give a precise estimate. Maybe my colleagues can comment on this.

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