The Dillon herald. [volume] (Dillon, S.C.) 1894-????, 1911-10-05
THE HOOKWORM.
State Board of Health Will Estab-
lish Dispensary i'm Dillon Comn-
ty

written for The Herald by DR..
j. uaBruce Ward.)
This disease is cause.I by a small
worm which lives i'll the small n
testine or bowel
rhe worm when full grown is
as big around as a pin. 1t is Of "a
dirty white color. Cut No. /
shows the worm as it appears to
the eye. Cuts 81 and 80
show the worm greatly magnified;
as 1t appears under the microscope.
These worms lay eggs. These
eggs are too small to be seen By
the naked eye. Under the micro
scope they look like this-(see
cut 81. Each female worm may lay
over a thousand eggs in a day.
They do not hatch in the bowel.
These eggs pass out with the
bowel movement and get on the
ground. Here in week or two one
not weather the worm may hatch
out in one day. These young hook
worms are called embryos. These
little worms I've in the dirt and
grow for two or three days, then
shed their skin and grow for
few days more. They get ready TO
cast their skin again and in this
stage they are called encysted en-
broys. Under the microscope they
appear to be in a capsule. They are
too small to be seen by the naked
eye. In places where no privies
are used or where no buckets are
used to catch the excreta of bowel
movements, the ground is alive with
yrrnr hn
seen but they are there neverthe-
less. They can be felt. Let any
barefooted person walk on soil
which is polluted; that Is, con-
tains body discharges an in a
few minutes there is a stinging
sensation on the feet. Later this
gets worse and in few hours time
the skin between the toes and on
top of the foot is red and swollen.
The itching Is intense and the de-
sire to scratch is irresistible. In!
other words, the little worms have
burrowed through the skin (see
cut 33) and caused what we call
ground itch, toe itch," or dew
poison" Ground itch occurs more /.
often in rainy weather or rather
rain washes the excrets and the !
young worms considerable distance
from the privy or other place where !
the body waste is deposited. If |
these discharges do not get on the |!
ground, there will be no ground !
itch and no hoohworm disease. For !
this reason we never have hook !
worm disease in cities where sewer |
systems are used, or country !
district where sanitary privies are
used.
Let us return to the little hook |
worms too small to be seen by the |
naked eye which has burrowed !
through the skin and caused ground |
itch. They get into the blood !
stream and pass to the lungs, from |
the lungs they crawl up the small !
air tubes until they reach the wind
pipe. We know that the upper
opening of the wind pipe Qarynx)
Is close to the gullet (esophagus.) /
It is easy to see, then, how these |
little worms can be coughed up
from the wind pipe and swallowed. |
They pass through the stomach to
the first portion of the bowel. Some
Times they are found in all parts of
the bowel. 1t takes the worm two
months or more to travel from the
skin to the bowel. They cause no
disease while taking the journey.
As soon as they reach the bowel,
they attach themselves by means of
two pairs of lips to the lining Of
The bowel or mucous membrane
tsee cut BAD and soon become full
grown-that is, about half inch
long, Csee cut ID Each worm has
a small tooth, which is hollow like
the needle of a hypodermic syringe.
The worm takes hold of the bowel
lining, and this tooth pierces the
bowel lining. The little worm not
only damages the bowel lining, but
II also sucks blood and injects al
poison (toxine) into the circula-
ton. When it has exhausted the
blood supply from one little spot, 1t
turns loose and takes hold in an
other place.
Although these worms are very
email, there are hundreds, some
4. thousands, OF them In the
- at time, and this causes
- NJ becomes very weak
- instant loss of blood
- impaired digestion.
[@ shortly after reach
- Asee cut 34,) begin
50 cut 31,) just as
- These eggs do
- ne body but are
- uuzoweI movement
- lie soil
- ye in the bowel
- rs unless the
Syery worm in
4 ~ \ y = y ~ the