These words might not make the best song lyrics, but they sum up AMERICAN MURDERER: The Parasite That Haunted the South, the 3rd book in my Medical Fiasco series
BARE FEET:
During the early 1900s, 80% of the South’s population lived in rural areas. Many struggled to make a living on their farms. Going barefoot was common because the weather was warm much of the year and because shoes were expensive, especially for growing children.
Two barefoot young children infected with hookworms
[from Byrd, Hookworm Disease, Florida State Board of Health, 1910]
WORMS:
In 1902, a U.S. government scientist named Charles Stiles identified a previously unknown species of hookworm in the South. He called it Necator americanus, or the American Murderer.
Its name refers to this intestinal worm’s effect on the human body. The parasite invades through skin, often bare feet. It travels deep into the gut of the unsuspecting host, where it sucks blood like a vampire. A person carrying hundreds of worms develops hookworm disease.
The steady blood loss causes severe anemia. Victims become emaciated. They have vacant expressions. Their weakened bodies are susceptible to other deadly ailments such as malaria, typhoid fever, and pneumonia. Children fall years behind in physical and mental development. Because adults are too fatigued to work, families are stuck in a cycle of poverty.
In the South during this period, millions of southerners were infected with hookworms. They were considered lazy, stupid, and sickly. No one, including southern doctors, realized that they had hookworm disease. In fact, the American medical community denied that hookworm disease even existed in the U.S.
A hookworm disease victim from Mississippi
[from Dock & Bass, Hookworm Disease, 1910]
OUTHOUSES:
Hookworms spread from the intestine of one person to the body of another by way of the soil.
Country households weren’t connected to a public sewer system. Many families used crude outhouses or just the bushes. The ground became contaminated with body waste...and hookworms. People were infected when they walked over this soil in bare feet.
These parasites can’t withstand freezing temperatures, which explains why they were only a health problem in the southern states.
THYME:
Doctors in Europe had discovered a way to kill and remove hookworm parasites from the body. The inexpensive medicine, called thymol, was derived from the herb thyme.
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Charles Stiles learned that American doctors didn’t know how to recognize the symptoms of hookworm disease. Furthermore, they didn’t know that the disease could be easily treated with thymol.
AMERICAN MURDERER tells how Stiles raised the alarm and spearheaded a plan to save southerners from hookworm disease. His efforts led to a successful government–private partnership that remains a model for solving public health problems in the U.S. and around the world. It is a story of discovery, perseverance, inspiration, and hope.