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E ROBESONIAN
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Established 1870. Country, God and Truth. Single Copies Five Cents
VOL XUI NO. 43. LUMBERTON, NORTH CAROLINA, THURSDAY, JULY 20, 1911. WHOLE NO. 2684
Free Treatment f or Hookworm Disease
The State and Robeson county are giving everybody an opportunity to be examined and treated
for hookworm disease. Examination and treatment are absolutely free. For this purpose dispensa
ries have been established at the school buildings of the following places:
St. Paul on Tuesdays, July 1 1th, 18th and 25th, August 1st, 8th and 15th.
Maxton on Wednesdays, July 26th, August 2nd, 9th and 16th.
Fairmont on Thursdays, July 13th, 20th and 27th, August 3rd, 10th and 17th.
Red Springs on Fridays, July 21st &tfS 28th, August 4th, 1 1th and 18th.
Lumberton on Saturdays, July 15th, 22nd and 29th, August 5th, 12th and 19th.
A female hookworm, very much magnified. See how its head is turned backward and how its body is hlled with organs containing hundreds or eggs.
Dr. B. W. Page, a representative of the State Board of Health, is in charge of the work, assisted by Mr. A. McKimmon of the State Laboratory of Hygiene, Raleigh.
People are daily being examined. As many as forty-five have been treated in one day. About two-thirds of those examined have been found tojhave the disease. Every one
who wishes to take advantage of this opportunity is urged to come at once and bring a small amount of the bowel movement to be examined. See theJiookworms and their
eggs for yourself through the microscope.
NORTH CAROLINA INFESTED WITH HOOKWORM DISEASE
An examination of more than 23.000 men, women and children from all parts of our
State shows that about one-third of them have, the disease.
Rural life is a very important predisposing cause of hookworm disease, and it has been
demonstrated that thi3 is largely due to the fact that sanitary arrangements in the coun
try districts and in many towns are very primitive. The disease is spread by the infected
human excrement of those who have the disease. Many of our farm and village dwellings
either have no privy or the existing privies are unsanitary in (instruction. As a result,
the soil around the privies, bushes or other hiding places is polluted. This is scattered by
chickens, dogs, etc., and especially by heavy rains. Persons working or walking with bare
feet, or wearing leaky shoe3 on such contaminated soil, are very liable to hookworm infection.-
When the bare feat are brought in contact with the infected soil, the little hook
worm germ j b.re through the skin, producing an attack of "ground itch," which is usual
ly the first stage of hookworm disease. The infection may ateo be taken in with muddy
water, with fruit and uncooked foods, as plums, peaches, strawberries, lettuce, etc.
CAUSE OF THE DISEASE.
The disease is caused by small round worms, white or brownish in color, which are
one-third to half an inch in length and the thickness of a number thirty sewing thread. In
the adult stage they are found fastened by their jaws to the lining membrane of the small
intestine. They suck the blood, make wounds, produce a poisonous substance which causes
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inflammation and catarrh ot the Dowel, mis ninaers digestion, ana tne aamage aone in
vites tvnhnid fever or tuberculosis. The c.reat loss of blood is the most important damage.
This shows a slice of skin as seen under the micro- The patient may harbor several thousands of these worms, which lay many thousands of
scope. Notice how the young hookworms are crawling eggs. These eggs are discharged from the bowels of the patient to develop in the pres-
through the skin. This is the way "ground-itch" or ence of oxygen in one to six days into the infecting germ3, to add infection to this patient
"dew-itch" looks. or to infect other people.
SYMPTOMS OF HOOKWORM DISEASE.
The very mild cases of this disease mav show very few effects from infection, but as
the severity of the infection increases the symptoms become more pronounced. lo the se
vere infections the patients may be under developed in body and mind. They present a
thin-blooded condition, often mistaken for malaria. The skin may be dry and tallow-like,
and, in some cases, tan colored; the hair is dry, the shoulder blades are usually very prom
inent and the abdomen frequently swollen. There is usually tenderness in the pit of the
stomach. Ulcers are often seen and these heal slowly. In the summer many of the patients
have ground itch. There may be at times severe headaches and dizziness. The digestion
is poor and in many cases the appetite is ravenous or perverted, the patient eating dirt,
clay, coffee grounds, etc. Often there is aching in the joints The face presents a stupid
appearance and in some cases i3 puffed. The eyes are listless, the mind is dull, and in
school the child falls behind his classes.
PREVENTION OF THE DISEASE.
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Experimental hookworm infection. Shows confluent
vesicle (blister) formation with slight decrease of swell
ing. (Photograph furnished by Dr. Claude A. Smith.
Courtesy of C. V. Mosby Pub. Co )
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This shows two young hookworms in the lungs,
worm on the left is entering the air tubes.
The
1. Treat the disease, thus destroying the egg-laying worm3 and at the same time cure
the sufferers.
2. Wear shoes as long as there is any polluted soil, and don't eat uncooked foods which tated
have been on, or near, contaminated soil.
3. See to it that every dwelling and schoolhouse is provided with sanitary closets and
that the stools of no one are deposited elsewhere.
SANITARY CLOSET.
A sanitary closet is one which has a fly-proof vault under the seat and a close-fitting
lid on a hinge for the opening in the seat. Under this opening a pail or tub is placed by
raising a hinged door in the rear of the vault. Dry dirt, lime, or chemical disinfectants
are put in the pail3 as needed to keep down the odor. The contents of the pail should be
removed once a week and deeply buried as far from the well as possible, burned, or treated
with germicides, but not used as manure, because this scatters the infecting germs or
worms, which are too small to be visible to the naked eye.
Hookworm disease occasions much loss of wealth to
North Carolina by causing needless loss of lives, wrecked
homes, misery and poverty. It occasions annually a leak
age of $187,500 of the State's school funds ana nine mil
lions of dollars in labor.
Wake county boy, age 10. Protgraph taken
after he had gained 17 pounds. This increase
resulted from one treatment. Patient still in
fected, but able to work six days of the wet k. Be
fore treatment, wa3 almost compUtely incapaci-
( )
A male hookworm, natural size.
A female hookworm, natural size.
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This shows the yourvg worm a short time after it escapes from the eggshell. The battle-shaped structure at the
blunt end is the esophagus, or gullet, and the darker organ following this is the intestine. This worm crawls or is
scattered around on the ground. It feeds for about 8 days or more, according to conditions, storing up food and
growing; during this process it sheds its skin twice, much like a snake.
' The larger figure represents the worm after it has shed its skin the second time; the worm remains encvsted, as
shown in thisikin; it now no longer takes food until itenters man. It may live just so long (5 months, more or less)
as it can live on the food which it has already eaten. If it becomes completely dried, it dies; therefore it cannot be
blown around in the air as dust; prolonged
' solid freezing kills it. When partially dry,
it is quiet, but it is very active when wet, as
in dew. It can wriggle up a surface which
is moist. Thisyoilng worm may be swallowed,
but more generally it enters through the skin.
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Head of a hookworm, great
ly magnified with a micro
scope. We are looking direct
ly into the mouth and see
(above) the two jaws, and in
the middle of the picture we
see a hollow tooth, somewhat
similar to the poison-fang of
a snake.
. Development of old world hookworm, a. p.
c. d. e. f. g. changes occurring in egg prepar
atory to developing of little worm. h. I. j. k
stages of the worm's development until it
emerges from th eggshell. L and M, , empty
eggshells, greatly enlarged. (After Perroncito.
Courtesy of C. V. Mosby Pub. Co.)