The condition of being infected with or infested by parasitic worms; the presence of helminths in the body.
From Greek 'helminthos' (worm) plus the suffix '-ism' (a condition or state). This nominalized form treats worm infestation as a systemic condition or disease category.
Interestingly, some evolutionary biologists suspect that our immune systems developed sophisticated responses to parasites—and without them, our defenses became over-reactive, possibly contributing to modern allergy epidemics. We may have traded parasites for autoimmune problems.
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