Today we’re taking a bite out of hookworm, our first macroparasite. We start, as all hookworm journeys must, from the dewy grass, where larvae burrow into your exposed flesh and make their long and winding way to your guts, where the eggs of a fortunate few will be immortalized in fossilized poop. It’s a tale of human migration, of failed eradication, and of overburdened populations. So pull up a chair, take off your shoes, and rest your feet in the cool dew-soaked grass. But watch out for the ground itch…
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| History | Biology |
| Ettling, John. The germ of laziness: Rockefeller philanthropy and public health in the New South. (1981). | Hotez, Peter J., et al. “Hookworm infection.” New England Journal of Medicine 351.8 (2004): 799-807. |
| Cambridge World History of Human Disease edited by Kenneth Kiple (chapter also written by Ettling) | Heukelbach, Jörg, and Hermann Feldmeier. “Epidemiological and clinical characteristics of hookworm-related cutaneous larva migrans.” The Lancet infectious diseases 8.5 (2008): 302-309. |
| Faulkner, Charles T. “Prehistoric diet and parasitic infection in Tennessee: Evidence from the analysis of desiccated human paleofeces.” American Antiquity 56.4 (1991): 687-700. | McKenna, Megan L., et al. “Human intestinal parasite burden and poor sanitation in rural alabama.” The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene 97.5 (2017): 1623-1628. |
| Fuller, Kathleen. “Hookworm: Not a pre‐Columbian pathogen.” Medical Anthropology 17.4 (1997): 297-308. | World Health Organization ‘Soil Transmitted Helminthiases’ Interactive map, updated through 2017 |
| Reinhard, Karl, et al. “American hookworm antiquity.” Medical Anthropology 20.1 (2001): 96-101. | Bartsch, Sarah M., et al. “The global economic and health burden of human hookworm infection.” PLoS neglected tropical diseases 10.9 (2016): e0004922. |
| Faulkner, Charles T., and Sharon Patton. “Pre‐Columbian hookworm evidence from Tennessee: A response to fuller (1997).” Medical Anthropology 20.1 (2001): 92-96. | Hotez, Peter J. “Empowering Girls and Women through Hookworm Prevention.” (2018): tpmd170934. |
| Araujo, Adauto, et al. “Parasites as probes for prehistoric human migrations?.” Trends in parasitology 24.3 (2008): 112-115. | Helmby, Helena. “Human helminth therapy to treat inflammatory disorders-where do we stand?.” BMC immunology 16.1 (2015): 12. |
| Gonçalves, Marcelo Luiz Carvalho, Adauto Araújo, and Luiz Fernando Ferreira. “Human intestinal parasites in the past: new findings and a review.” Memórias do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz 98 (2003): 103-118. | |
| How a Worm Gave the South a Bad Name by Rachel Nuwer | |
| Gross Science from Nova (PBS) |
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