Free Resources on Infectious and Parasitic Diseases

Infectious and parasitic diseases can be agonizing, causing blindness, paralysis, and a host of other debilitating symptoms and complications. So often these diseases go untreated, leaving patients needlessly suffering — and what's worse, they're preventable and treatable. It's a conundrum the doctors and scientists at Parasites Without Borders (PWB), a global health nonprofit, are fighting to fix. Parasitology is a topic that's marginalized at most medical schools, and yet billions of people are infected every year. Approximately 1.5 billion people have a parasitic infection, according to the World Health Organization — that's 24% of the world' population — and in tropical and subtropical areas, it's as high as 50%. PWB are on a mission to change that, to help eliminate human suffering from parasitic infections.

It's something that the late President Jimmy Carter was passionate about, inspiring his creation of The Carter Center, which fights for eradication of neglected tropical diseases, like malaria, lymphatic filariasis, and schistosomiasis, among others. These organizations seek to help the communities that need it most.

Most doctors are not trained on how to prevent or treat parasites in medical school, and with a consistent exposure to infectious diseases throughout the world, it's a problem that needs remedying. PWB, in partnership with MicrobeTV, has a mission to provide free science education to all. The two nonprofits were founded by physicians and scientists who are passionate about parasitology and who have a lifetime of experience teaching it to students of medicine, both in the U.S and abroad. Their free resources about infectious diseases, such as the Infectious Disease Puscast, This Week in Virology (TWiV), and TWiV's Clinical Update with Dr. Daniel Griffin, offer reviews on the latest infectious disease literature as well as informal conversations about viruses — informative, accessible, and digestible.

"Our science podcasts are for everyone," shared Dr. Daniel Griffin, PhD, board certified in Infectious Disease and co-founder and president of PWB. "For those in a medical setting, we offer a textbook and lecture series about parasitic diseases that explore the life cycle, diagnosis, treatment, prevention, and more. Our hope is that individual that watch these lectures or listen to our podcasts are going to be able to make changes through diagnosis and treatment. We hope our resources, which are all free, can make an impact much like that of President Carter, reducing the suffering of millions worldwide." For more about MicrobeTV and PWB, head to www.microbe.tv and parasiteswithoutborders.com