This De-Wormed World?

Just as Dr. Armand Kuris's presidential address (Kuris, 2012) one year ago began with homage to Dr. Norman Stoll's epic 1947 JP paper, “This Wormy World,” so too does this address. Whereas Dr. Kuris used his talk to provide an authoritative overview of the biology of human parasites, including their origins, infectious strategies, and biogeography, my purpose is somewhat different. I intend to highlight that the coming decades are likely to see large reductions in the abundance of many human helminths from the conspicuous levels of per capita infection noted by Stoll (1947). I am deliberately emphasizing an optimistic point of view throughout this talk, but one that is leavened with plenty of realistic caveats that will surely impede our progress in this endeavor to one extent or another. I am hopeful, though, that when future historians of science consider the times we live in, among...