INTENSITY OF HOOKWORM INFESTATION IN ALABAMA

Abstract
Hookworm infestation is one of the major public health problems of Alabama. Here the parasite has a wide distribution, for scarcely any county, town or village that has been studied has been found free of infestation. Among children of school age the incidence ranges from less than 5 per cent. in some of the larger towns to 95 per cent, in the heavily infested rural communities. Formerly, every case of hookworm infestation has been considered hookworm disease, and the public health plan of organization has been to treat every child until he is entirely free from parasites. Recent studies1have shown, however, that the important factor in hookworm disease control is not the incidence but the intensity of infestation from the point of view either of an individual or of a community. The great proportion of persons with hookworm infestation of slight degree suffer no measurable harm, and should

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