This year three scientists who worked on therapies for parasitic infections took home the Nobel Prize in medicine:

William Campbell, Satoshi Omura and Youyou Tu. It was the first time that China won a Nobel prize in Science.

Campbell and Omura discovered a class of compounds (avermectins) in the 70s, which have been used to kill roundworms causing such infections as lymphatic filariasis.

Youyou Tu developed the anti-parasite drug Artemisinin during the 60s. It is given to fight malaria and babesia, amongst other infections.