In fact, parasite-specific IgE has been associated with protection in a wide range of helminth infections (Hagan et al., 1991; Dunne et al., 1992; Faulkner et al., 2002; Bethony et al., 2005; Capron et al., 2005; Turner et al., 2005) leading to the widely-held belief that IgE evolved to help counter these multicellular parasites. Here, IGHE is linked to helminthiasis.