Norwich bulletin., 1922-12-12
IN THE DAYS NEWS
Unlocking inc Hookworm

If persistent echoes of wars disturb ones peace of mind 1t is wholesome an- tidote to turn attention occasionally to another sort of world struggle, a benefi- cent war-the war against disease" says a bulletin from the Washington, D. C., headquarters of the National Geograpr;tc society based on a communication to the society from William Joseph Showalter.
 "In all the stirring history Of mans eff fort to make himself master of his en- vironmen, there is no more thrilling chapter than that which tells of the bit ter battles he has waged for the con quest of contagion, and of the ground he has won in his struggle with his relent- less and innumerable, though invisible foes," say the bulletin.
 Three News Items
 'Three announcements of almost un- precedented import to mankind are ex- pected to be made at no distant date.
 '"The first of these, chronologically, at least, will be that yellow fever has at last been banished from the face of the earth, and that the germ which causes it has become extinct, along with the dino i saur, the dodo, the great aux and the pas senger pigeon.
 '-The next in order will probably be that hookworm disease, which has been called a handmaiden of poverty, an asso- ciate of crime and degenracy, destroyer of energy and vitality. a menace ana an obstacle to all that makes for gtT1Iiza- tion,' and which is endemic in a zone that embraces half of the earths population, can be driven from a-- comrnHnlIy which has the will to get rid of IL.
 Last will come the statement that | large-scale demonstrations have proved | that malaria can be eradicated from al- i most any community that has enough vital force left to push thorough, though in- expensive, campaign for its extirpation. Richmond County, Virginia, where the war on the hookworm was worldwide fight had its inception, stands out as an example of what may be accomplished and as an evidence that 1t can be accomp- | lished with much less difficulty than was formerly supposed.
 | When the work began there about { years ago, S2 per cent. of the people had the disease. A few years later a re- survey showed that this had been reduc- ed to 35 per cent A more recent resur- vey reduced it to 2 per cent, and in 1922 1t can be announced that there is not a single person in the entire county in whose body the worms are numerous enough to produce any of the symptom; of the malady.
 When are two kinds of hookwomi that invade the human body, an ok World species known as Ancylostoml
 duodenale and the New World form known as Necator americanus.
 ''The New World species of hookworn is a small parasitic creature HyvUt z thick as an ordinary pin and half as long
 The adult female worm, inhabiting tn
 small intestine, lays thousands of egg
 daily. After these pass out Of tn body they hatch within one of two days
 They are microscopic in size when hatch
 ed and never grow larger as long as the, remain in the ground.
 Then comes along a pair Of bar
 feet or hands. or some other part of tn
 body touches the infected ground, an
 the little villains make the most of thei
 opportunity. They promptly begin |
 bore their way through the skin, caus , ing a severe irritation known as groun itoh-' Once under the skin, they travS
 through the tissues until they come | . the lymphatic system and thence into tn = blood.
 Finally, after passing through tt heart and lungs, they reach the throi ' and pass thence through the stomac, 2 ultimately landing in the small inte tine, to whose wall they fasten then {. selves. and for as much as seven year
 if not disturbed by treatment, tai !, their fill of the victims blood and fl 2 2 testinal tissue.
 They develop in their salivary gland
 a substance that has a marked power 1; inhibiting coagulation of the blood. Al ' taching themselves to the surface of u . intestinal wall, rasping and suckin U U away the delicate inner cells on whic