01886nas a2200205   4500000000100000008004100001653001400042653002600056653002300082653002300105653001700128653001400145653002500159100001200184245010300196856009000299300000900389490000700398520127500405       2016                            d10aTrichuris10aSocial stratification10aParasitic Diseases10aParasite evolution10aChild health10aBehaviour10aAscaris lumbricoides1 aGeary D00aCan neglected tropical diseases compromise human wellbeing in sex-, age-, and trait-specific ways?  uhttp://journals.plos.org/plosntds/article/asset?id=10.1371%2Fjournal.pntd.0004489.PDF  a1-260 v103 a<p>Traits that facilitate competition for reproductive resources or that influence mate choice have evolved to signal resilience to infectious disease and other stressors. As a result, the dynamics of competition and choice can, in theory, be used to generate predictions about sex-, age-, and trait-specific vulnerabilities for any sexually reproducing species, including humans. These dynamics and associated vulnerabilities are reviewed for nonhuman species, focusing on traits that are compromised by exposure to parasites. Using the same approach, sex-, age-, and trait-specific vulnerabilities to parasitic disease are illustrated for children’s and adolescent’s physical growth and fitness. Suggestions are then provided for widening the assessment of human vulnerabilities to include age-appropriate measures of behavioral (e.g., children’s play) and cognitive (e.g., language fluency) traits. These are traits that are likely to be compromised by infection in age- and sex-specific ways. Inclusion of these types of measures in studies of neglected tropic diseases has the potential to provide a more nuanced understanding of how these diseases undermine human wellbeing and may provide a useful means to study the efficacy of associated treatments.</p>