Although digenetic trematodes have been largely neglected, they constitute a major group of helminths that parasitize human and animals causing significant morbidity and mortality. This is of special importance today, since the geographical limits and the populations at risk, traditionally limited to developing or low-income countries, are currently expanding and changing in relation to factors such as growing international markets, improved transportation systems, and demographic changes. This has led to a growing international interest in trematode infections, although factors such as the difficulties entailed in the diagnosis, the complexity of human and agricultural practices, the lack of assessments of economic costs, or the limited number of effective drugs are preventing the development of control measures of these diseases in humans and livestock. In-depth studies are needed to clarify the current epidemiology of these helminth infections and to identify new and specific targets for both effective diagnosis and treatments. The main goal of the third edition of this book is to present the major trematodes and their corresponding diseases in the framework of modern parasitology, considering matters such as the application of novel techniques and analysis of data in the context of host-parasite interactions and also with the resident microbiota, showing the application of modern techniques and concepts to the studies on digenetic trematodes. This is an ideal book for parasitologists, microbiologists, zoologists, immunologists, public health professionals, clinicians and graduate and post-graduate students.
Dr Rafael Toledo is a parasitologist with a research interest on host-parasite interactions, with emphasis on the immunological aspects of intestinal trematode infections. He is currently Full Professor of Parasitology at the University of Valencia. He began working on trematode biology and systematics, with emphasis on echinostomes. During his post-doctoral stage at the University of Puerto Rico, he focused on immunological aspects of host-parasite interactions. Currently, his research is dedicated to the immunological interactions is the experimental model Echinostoma-rodent and other intestinal helminth infections. He has written and/or edited more than 150 works including original research articles in peer-reviewed journals, reviews, book chapters, and books.
Dr Bernard Fried† was Kreider Professor Emeritus at Lafayette College, USA. He was the author or coauthor of more than 500 scientific publications, including articles, reviews, books, and book chapters. He received a Ph.D in Zoology (Parasitology) from the University of Connecticut in 1961 and was an NIH Postdoctoral Fellow in Parasitology at Emory University in Atlanta, GA from 1961 to 1963. He was Professor of Biology at Lafayette College from 1963 to 2000 and his research was focused in the biology of helminths and gastropods and applications of TLC to the biological sciences.
