Of the 184 individuals, 111 were NEW-Eth-Il, who had a high prevalence of helminth infection, the immunological changes were elevated IgE levels and eosinophil counts, decreased CD4/CD8 ratio, increased proportion of HLA-DR+CD3+, HLA-DR+CD4+ and HLA-DR+CD8+ cells, decreased proportion of CD45RA+CD4+ (naive) and CD28+CD8+ cells, increased proportion of CD45RO+CD4+ (memory) cells, and increased secretion of IL-4 and IL-5 (Th2 type cytokines). The gene discussed is IL5; the disease is helminthiasis.