The times and democrat. [volume] (Orangeburg, S.C.) 1881-current, 1909-08-07
SOM. nEW LIGHT
ON THE WIDESPREAD AND FA-
TAI HOOKWORM DISEASE.

W 1lCH lS SohSIaStSO AhhoaSA SO->
Pollution and Other Unsanitary
Surroundings of the Home.
A sensational report on the. New
World hookworm, technically known
as Necator. Americans - THE
American murderer"-has, been
made to the marine hospital service
by DR.. Charles Wardell Stiles, the
eminent authority on this destroyer
of humanity, this decimator Of the
| poor white and the negro in the
South.
The present report Of DR.. Stiles
deals with the disease among the
negroes of the South, although he
says he has had far less expert
ence with the disease among color
ed people than among white. His
conclusions are unique IN that he be-
lieves the hookworm disease is not
so destructive among negroes as
among whites.
He accounts for this on the sup
| position that the negro has become
somewhat immune to it owing to
it's prevalence in his race in Africa
hundreds Of years before this coun-
try was discovered. But in both
races it kills, directly and indirectly,
thousands of people each year, prob
ably equaling the ravages of con-
sumption. The Old World hook
worm is relatively rare in the United
States, and it is the American pest
that is claiming the thousands of vic
tins.
The hookworm is one-fourth to
one-half an inch long and about as
thick as a small hairpin. 1t has
hard jaws, by which, when well in
trenched in the system, it adheres
to the walls of the intestines and
slowly saps the life away, weaken
ing the victim and bringing an
aneamic condition that is often at
tributed to malaria and other causes.
Children are subject to the disea 50
more than adults.
In the South the disease is con-
tracted through soil pollution and
unsanitary surroundings. The eggs
and young ones thrive in the, soil
pollution. The young worm enters
the system through two merhois.
The first is by the swallowing of
contaminated food or water. The
second is by boring through the
skin.
After entering the, skin the y,uns
worms make their way to the blood.
and pass with the blood through
the heart to the lungs. From the
lungs the parasite pass up the wiul'
pipe, down the gullet into the stom-
ach, through the stomach to the
bowels, where they shed their skins
several times very much like a
snake, all the time becoming ma
ture
They then begging the work of In
juring the walls of the intestines
by sucking the blood and poisoning
the victims. Children become unde-
veloped physically and mentally, the
skin becomes dry and sallow, the
hair Is dry, there is ground itch,
the patients are weak and indisposed
to work. This condition predisposes
to tuberculosis and many other dis
eases.
DR.. Stiles is confident that If a
campaign should be made in the
South against the disease the death
rate in many localities would be
greately reduced. The disease is
rarely found north of Maryland or
west of the Ohio river. A warm
climate is essential to it's existance.
The medical authorities in Manila,
when they discovered the disease
among the prisoners Of Riblibid
prison, reduced the death rate from
23S per 1000 to 1875 per 1000, all
by sanitary regulations and the use
Of thvmol.
The treatment for the disease is
not expensive. The doses of thymol
to be given will depend entirely up
on the condition Of the patient and
should be prescribed by a physician.
DR.. Stiles, however, places a cam
paign against soil pollution as far
above anything else in the preven-
ton line. The greatest care should
be taken in this respect.