Worms infect more poor in U.S. than thought
Many carry same parasitic infections that affect developing nations
updated 6:45 a.m. PT, Wed., Dec. 26, 2007
WASHINGTON - Roundworms may infect close to a quarter of inner city black children, tapeworms are the leading cause of seizures among U.S. Hispanics and other parasitic diseases associated with poor countries are also affecting Americans, a U.S. expert said on Tuesday.
Recent studies show many of the poorest Americans living in the United States carry some of the same parasitic infections that affect the poor in Africa, Asia, and Latin America, said Dr. Peter Hotez, a tropical disease expert at George Washington University and editor-in-chief of the Public Library of Science journal PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases.
Writing in the journal, Hotez said these parasitic infections had been ignored by most health experts in the United States.
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“I feel strongly that this is such an important health issue and yet because it only affects the poor it has been ignored,” Hotez said via e-mail.
He said the United States spent hundreds of millions of dollars to defend against bio-terrorism threats like anthrax or smallpox or avian flu, which were more a theoretical concern than a real threat at present.
“And yet we have a devastating parasitic disease burden among the American poor, right under our nose,” Hotez said.
Roundworms link to asthma
He noted a recent study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, presented in November, found that almost 14 percent of the U.S. population is infected with Toxocara roundworms, which dogs and cats can pass to people.“Urban playgrounds in the United States have recently been shown to be a particularly rich source of Toxocara eggs and inner-city children are at high risk of acquiring the infection,” Hotez wrote, adding that this might be partly behind the rise in asthma cases in the country. Up to 23 percent of urban black children may be infected, he said.
“Because of its possible links to asthma, it would be important to determine whether covert toxocariasis is a basis for the rise of asthma among inner-city children in the northeastern United States,” he added.
“Cysticercosis is another very serious parasitic worm infection ... caused by the tapeworm Taenia solium, that results in seizures and other neurological manifestations,” Hotez wrote.
He said up to 2,000 new cases of neurological disease caused by tapeworms are diagnosed every year in the United States. More than 2 percent of adult Latinos may be infected, and with 35 million Hispanics in the United States, this could add up to tens of thousands of cases, Hotez said.
“In the hospitals of Los Angeles, California, neurocysticercosis currently accounts for 10 percent of all seizures presenting to some emergency departments,” he wrote.
“We need to begin erasing these horrific health disparities,” Hotez wrote in the paper.
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Worms becoming a problem
by sammielee24 6 Replies latest jw friends
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sammielee24
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mrsjones5
First saw this on Discovery Health:
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SacrificialLoon
As long as I can get lettuce and a manicured lawn cheap who cares about a few worms! The invisible hand of the market will fix it!*
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worldtraveller
The storgage and cooking habits of my friends in Mexico City are appalling. Seldom have is seen proper refrigeration, cooking and cleaning techniques. Most haven't got hot water. I also notice the prime ingredient in a fridge is Coca-Cola!!!
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tula
As a tiny test to yourself, would you like to eat a pork chop right now? Sound scrumptious? How about RARE? You probably just felt an electric current go through you. How shocking! No way in the world is anybody going to eat pork rare, what, are they CRAZY? You get worms doing that, man! You want me to DIE? You gotta cook it, and cook it GOOD, or you gonna DIE, sucka! You want me to maybe get Trichina worms? The nerve, rare pork chops. How could you even suggest such a thing!
TRICHINA --[trikai'ne], a parasitic roundworm, Trichinella spiralis, in the class of Nematoda of the phylum Aschelminthes (or Nemathelminthes). It is the cause of human trichinosis, a widespread disease in various parts of the world. It is estimated that about 20,000,000 persons are infected in the United States. The infection is contracted by eating raw or improperly cooked pork or pork products, which contain encysted larvae, the immature worms. The cysts are digested in the stomach, releasing the larvae, which migrate to the intestine, attaching themselves to the intestinal wall. In five to seven days they become sexually mature and mate. The viviparous female then burrows into the intestinal wall to discharge her larvae. A female may deposit about 15,000 larvae in five to seven weeks; after this she dies. The larvae migrate into the lymphatic system and small veins and are distributed to various parts of the body, eventually reaching the striated muscles in which they encyst. The greatest invasion is into the muscles of the diaphragm, tongue, chest, shoulders, and thighs. After several months, the body of the host, that is, the infected person, deposits calcium around the encysted larvae. Lesions result from the mechanical and toxic irritations produced by the larvae during the invasion, migration, and encystation. They often invade the heart muscles, causing myocarditis; in the diaphragm they interfere with respiration. There is no effective treatment and the best preventive measures are proper meat inspection and thorough cooking of pork. Collier's Encyclopedia, The Crowell-Collier Publishing Company, 1965, Ross F. Nigrelli. But when God tells us that it is not safe to eat pork, believe Him. True, then man comes along and makes his own rules to put on top of that decree by God. Jesus talks about these issues in the Mark Chapter 7 passage, i.e., the "washing of cups and pots," which you will find nowhere in the Bible other than mentioned here by Jesus. Hebrews 9:10 makes a slight reference. Jesus also makes it clear that tradition does not supplant the Word of God, nor the Commandment of God. The Word of God and the Commandment of God are tops. God says "unclean," and modern wise men say "NOW it's okay." Who do you believe, men or God? And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God. (Mark 11:22) In short, people err, on such a huge scale because they put their trust in man, and not in God -- "It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man." (Psalms 118:8) So why put tradition at odds with the Word of God? "Jesus answered and said unto them, Ye do err, not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God." (Matthew 22:29) -- trust in God, He doesn't change. "Do not err, my beloved brethren. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning." (James 1:16-17)
