The L'Anse sentinel., 1922-12-29
Many Victories Won in Bitter
Battles Waged for Conquest
Of Contagi0n.
CAMPAIGN AGAINST HOOKMORM
Not Person In Virginia County Has
Enough Hookworms In His Body
to Produce ANY Of the symp-
toms Of the Malady. I,

WashingtOn.-"n persistent echoes
Of wars disturb ones peace of mind II
n wholesome antidote to turn atten-
tion occasionally to another sort Of
world struggle, beneficent war-the
war against disease" says bulletin
from the Washington headquarters of
the National Geographic society based
on communication TO the society
from William Joseph Showalter.
-In all the stirring historv of mans
effort to make himself 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.
"Three announcements of almost
unprecedented import to mankind are
expected to be made at no distant date.
The f1rst OF these, chronologically.
at least, will be thrt yellow fever has
at last been banished from the face of
the earth. and that the germ which
causes II has become extinct, along
with the dinosaur, the dodo. the great
aux and the passenger pigeon.
'The next In order will probably be
that hookworm disease, which has
been called 'handmaiden o. POVERTY.
an associate of crime and dcgeneracy,
q destroyer Of energy and vitality,
menace and an obstacle to all that
makes for civilization and which Is
endemic In zone that embraces half
Of the earth's population, can be
driven from any community which has
the will to get rid Of 1t.
Last will come the statement that
large-scale demonstrations have
proved that malaria can be eradicated
from almost any community that has
enough vital force left to push a
thorough, though inexpensive. cam
paign for its extirpation.
Virginia Early Campaign Center.
Richmond county. Virginia, where
the war on the hookworm as a world
wide fight had its inception. stands out
as an example of what may be accom-
plished and as an evidence that 1t can
be accomplished with much less diff
Guilty than was formerly supposed.
"When the work began there, about
thirteen years ago, 50 per cent of the
people had the disease. A few years
later a resurvey showed that this had
been reduced to 35 per cent. A more
recent resurvey reduced 1t to 2 per
cent, and in 1922 II can be announced
that there is not single person in the
Aef ntxt In xx,hA Al
worms are numerous enough to pro-
ouce any OF the symptoms of the
Malady.
"There are two kinds of hookworms
Shat invade the human body, an Old
World species known as Ancylostoma
Nuodenale and the New World form
mown as Necator americanus.
'sThe New World species of hook.
worm Is small parasitic creature
about as thick as nm ordinary pin and
As'f as long. The .dult female worm.
lnhabiting the small intestine. LAYS
thousands Of eggs daily. After these
pass out Of the body they hatch with
10 one or two days. They are micro
sropic In size when hatched and never
grow larger as long as they remain in
ts,e ground.
Then comes alons pair of bare
fvet 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
sAin. causing severe irritation known
~ ground itch Once under the skin,
they travel through the tissues until