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Pregnancy is a unique immunological sta-tus with different hormonal and immuno-logical alterations. Pregnancy hormones(including progesterone, glucocorticoids,estradiol, and estriol) increase over thecourse of pregnancy and signicantlymodulate the immunological shift thatoccurs over the three trimesters of preg-nancy (1). In contrast, helminth infec-tions are the most common infectiousdiseases in developing countries. Soil-transmitted helminths (ascariasis,trichuri-asis, and hookworm), schistosomiasis, andlymphatic lariasis are the most commonhelminthiasis. Most helminth infectionshave minor clinical symptoms; thus, theinfection is left untreated and may remainchronic for multiple years (2).It is well-documented that a woman’simmune response during pregnancy andchronic helminth infections shift towardType 2 immunity and anti-inammatorycytokines (1, 3–6). During pregnancy, theactivities of CD4CT cells into helper T celltype 2 (Th2) and their anti-inammatorycytokines [including interleukin-4 (IL-4),IL-5, and IL-10] increase. Inversely, theactivitiesof T-helper1(Th1)cellsandtheirinammatory cytokines [as well as inam-matory macrophages and natural killer(NK) cells] decrease (1). These immuno-logical shifts away from inammatoryresponses are necessary for a successfulpregnancy (1, 3). For example, activat-ing cytotoxic cells (including NK or Tcells and inammatory cytokines such asIFN-g and TNF-a) can damage the pla-centaandfetus(3).Moreover,theelevationof anti-inammatory factors like IL-10 canprevent spontaneous abortions in murinemodels (7).Similar to immune response duringpregnancy, the immune response dur-ing a helminth infection shifts towardTh2 and anti-inammatory status. Duringchronic helminth infections, the increasedactivation and expansion of CD4C Th2cells (including eosinophils, mast cells,basophils, and the antibody isotypes IgG1,IgG4, and IgE) occur. Moreover, produc-tion of the cytokines IL-4, IL-5, IL-9,IL-10, IL-13, and IL-21 and transform-ing growth factor-b (TGF-b) increases (4,5). On the other hand, several studies inmurine models reveal that helminth infec-tions manipulate host hormones for itsown benet [reviewed in Ref. (8)]. Inthe case of

Are Pregnant Women with Chronic Helminth Infections More Susceptible to Congenital Infections?