Laboratory Methods in the Screening of Anthelmintics

Abstract

For ages, indeed since prehistoric times helminthiasis is a plague of man and animals. The analysis of old and dried feces (coproliths) has opened the door to voluminous information. The presence of Enterobius vermicularis infections in human beings can be traced right back to the beginning of the history of mankind. The oldest findings of eggs of parasitic helminths are the 10,000- year-old oxyuris eggs in coproliths reported from Utah [17]. These parasites have already been described in early Chinese, Indian, Arabian/Persian and also in Greek/Roman medical reports and Hippocrates 460–377 B.C.) already knew about nocturnal discomforts and gave a detailed report about them. But other helminths have also been recorded — as can be seen from Table 1 — representing only a certain excerpt from literature.