The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1922-12-13
"Unhooking the Hookworm'

''Unhooking the Hookworm''
'If persistent echoes of wars dis
turb ones peace Of mind it is a
| wholesome antidote to turn atten-
| ton occasionally to another. sort
Of world struggle. beneflcent war
the. war against disease" says a
bulletin from the Washington. D.
c.. headquarters Of the National
Geographic Society based on a
communication to The Society from
| William Joseph Showalter.
''In all the stirring history Of
mans effort to make himself mas
| ter of his environment, there. is no
more thrilling chapter than that
(which tells of the bitter battles he
has waged for the conquest Of con-
tssion, and Of the ground he has
won in his struggle with his re-
( ilentless and innumerable. though
invisible foes" says the bulletin.
Three News Items
'.Three announcements of almost
unprecedented import to mankind
are expected to be made at no dis
,ant date.
J "The first of these. chronology
cally, at least. will be that yellow
, fever has at least been banished
!: from the face of the earth, and
!; that the germ which causes it has
fbecome extinct. along with the
dinosaur. the dodo. the great aux.
! and the passenger pigeon.
t"The next in order will probably
be that hookworm disease. which
I has been called "a handmaiden of
! poverty. an associate OF crime and
idegeneracy, a destroyer Of energy
and vitality, menace and an OBJ
!. stacle to all that makes for civili-
j zation,' and which is endemic in
| a zone that embraces half of the
: earth's population. can be driven
from any community which has
/ the will to get rid Of it.
Last will come the statement
1 that. larse-scale demonstrations
!, have proved that malaria can be
eradicated from almost any COM
munity that has enough vital force
!, left to push a thorough, though in
! expensive, campaign for its ex-
tirpation.
!. Virginia Early Campaign Center
Richmond County. Virginia.
where the war on the hookworm as
/ a worldwide fight had its incep-
I, ton. stands out as an example OF
I %hat may be accomplished and as
al evidence that it can be accom-
plished with, much less difficulty
than was formerly supposed.
"When the work began there.
iabout thirteen years ago, 80 per
cent of the people had the disease.
"A few years later a resurvey show
? ed that this had been reduced to
35 per cent. A more recent re-
survey reduced it to per cent, and
/ in 1922 it can be announced that
! there is not a single person in the
Ientire county in whose body the
" orms are numerous enough to
produce any of the symptoms OF
the maIady.
There are two kinds Of hook
worms that invade the human
body. an Old World species known
( as Aneylostoma duodenale and the
New World form known as Neca-
/ to americanus.
The New World Species.
"The New World species of
hookworm is small parasitic
creature about as thick as an ordi-
nary pin and half as long. The
adult female worm. inhabiting the
small intestine. lays thousands OF
eggs daily. After these pass out
OF the body they hatch within one
i-or two days. They are micro
scopic in size when hatched and
never grow larger as long as they
remain in the ground.
e"Then comes along pair OF
bare feet or hands. or some other
!; part of the body touches the IN
fected ground, and the little vii
tains make the most of their op-
portunity. They promptly begin to
bore their way through the skln'
/ causing severe irritation known
as ground itch Once under the
skin. they travel through the It's
sues until they come to the lynn
phatic system. and thence into the
blood.
1 s.F'inally. after passing through
the heart and lungs. they reach the
! throat and pass thence through the
stomach, ultimately landing in the
small intestine, to whose wall they
fasten themselves, and for as much
sc.er years if not disturbed by
treatment. take their fill of the vic
] tins blood and intestinal tissue.
.They develop in their sallvary
4 glands a substance that has a
marked power of 1nhibiting coag-
ufation of the blood. Attaching
themselves to the surface of the
intestinal wall. rasping and suck
ing away the delicate inner cells on
which they feed. they lay bare the
deeper tissues, and the wound con-
tinues to bleed for long time. even
after the worm has deserted the
SPOT to which it was attached.
"But they go even further thap
that. Ey some method not, well