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New research by Irish scientists could help tackle a roundworm disease that affects 1 billion people and kills 60,000 people worldwide every year.

Scientists working at Trinity College, Maynooth University, and Queen Mary University of London have discovered a new way of preventing the Ascaris roundworm infection.

Ascaris lumbricoides is an intestinal parasite that results in severe health consequences, including growth retardation and impaired cognitive development and is most common in third world countries.

(Image: Dr Christina Dold and Professor Celia Holland)

The lifecycle of the Ascaris roundworm in humans sees the infection progress from the stomach, following ingestion of viable eggs which hatch as larvae, to the liver before moving on to the lungs and then returning to the stomach.

Professor of Zoology at Trinity College, Celia Holland found that targeting specific liver proteins may offer new preventative options.

Professor Holland has spent over a decade studying the infection.

Professor Holland said: “By focusing on the liver we aimed to target the metaphorical front line in this particular host-parasite interaction.”

Lead author Gwendoline Deslyper, Maynooth University, said: “Given our findings and the central role of the liver in the Ascaris migratory pathway, we suggest a potentially novel research direction to develop alternative preventative control strategies for Ascaris.

The new findings could have a big role in helping prevent the disease that affects so many people worldwide, according to Dr Jim Carolan, Maynooth University Department of Biology.

Dr Carolan said: “There is still a long way to go and much research to be done, but these findings point to new options in our efforts to control a disease that affects around one eighth of our planet’s population.”