Fort Mill times. [volume] (Fort Mill, S.C.) 1892-current, 1922-11-16
UNHOOKING THE H0OKwORM.
Successful Effort Being Made t
Overcome COntagion.


Overconle Contagion.
If persistent echoes of wars dis
turb ones peace of mind it is a
wholesome antdote to turn atten-
ton occasionally to another sort OF
world struggle, benericent war
the war against disease" says bull
letin from the National Geographic
society based ON communication 1t
has received from William j. Sho-
walter.
In all the stirring history of man S
effort to make himself the master OF
his environment there Is no more
thrilling chapter than that which
tells OF the bitter battles, he has
waged for the conquest of contagion
and OF the ground he has won in his
struggle with his relentless and in
Vulnerable, though invisible, foes"
says the bulletin.
Three announcements OF almost
unprecendented import OF mankind
are expected TO be made at no dis
tant date. 5r.
low fever has at last been banished
from the face of the earth and that
the germ which carries 1t has become
extinct. The next in order probably
Will be that hookworm disease, which
has been called "a handmaiden OF
poverty, an associate OF crime and
degeneracy, q destroyer Of energy
and vitality, d menace and an obsta-
Gle to all that makes for civilization
and which is endemic in a zone that
embraces half of the earth's popula-
tion; can be driven from any commu-
nifty which has the will to get rid OF
1t. Last will come the statement that
demonstrations have proved that ma
laria can be eradicated from almost
an community that has enough vital
force left to push a thorough, though
inexpensive, campaign for it's extir-
patton. .. ..
Richmond county, Virginia, where
the war on the hookworm as a
worldwide fight had its inception.
stands out as an example of what
may be accomplished and as an evil
dence that It can be accomplished
with much less difficulty than was
formerly supposed.
When the work began there about
l2 years aysSsS2- per cent of the peo-
pc had the disease. A few years la
ter q, resuryey showed that this had
been reduced to 35 per cent. A more
recent resurvey reduced 1t to 2. per
cent and in 1922 1t can be announced
that there is not single person In
the entire county in whose body the
woms are numerous enough to pro-
duce any OF the symptoms, OF the
malady.
There are two kinds of hook
worm that invade the human body,
"a Old World species and New
World species. -...
The New World species OF hook
worm is q small parasitic creature
about as thick as an ordinary 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 or two days. They are
in size when Matched and
never grow larger as long as they
remain on the ground.
Then comes along a pair of bare
feet or hands, or some other part of
the body touches the infected ground,
and the little villains make the most
OF their opportunity. They promptly
begin to bore their way through the
skin. causing severe irritation
known as ground itch. Once under
the skin. they travel through the tis-
sues until they come to the lymphatic
system, and thence into the blood.
Finally, after passing through the
heart and lungs. they reach the throat
and pass thncs through the stomach,
ultimately landing In the small intes-
tine, TO whose wall they fasten them
selves, and for as much as seven
years, IL not. disturbed by treatment.
take their s!ll OF the. victim 9. blood
and intestinal tissue.
They develop in their salivary
glands q substance that has mark
ed power of fnhibiting coaguiation OF
the blood. Attaching themselves to
the surface Of the Intestinal wall,
rasping and sucking away the deli
cate inner cells on which they feed,
they lay bare the deeper tissues and
the wound continues TO bleed for a
long time, even after the worm has
deserted the sDOt to which II was
Bat they even 60 further than that.
By some method not we'll understood.
they cause the blood to undergo .
change. reducing the element that
makes us redrhlooded, and which