POLLUTED SOIL AND HOOKWORM DISEASE

The terrible hookworm disease so prevalent in our southern states is caused by a minute worm that infests soil polluted with sewage.  It penetrates the soles of the feet of those who go barefoot and the palms of the hands of those who work in the soils, finds its way through the blood to the intestines, and thence to the soil again.  An investigation in 770 counties in 11 states where hookworm disease is prevalent showed that out of 287,606 farm homes only six tenths of one per cent disposed of their sewage in such a way as to prevent soil pollution.

Out of 305 homes in a little community in Mississippi, only 4 properly disposed of sewage.  When the first investigations were made, there were 407 cases of hookworm disease out of 1002 residents.  Besides, there had been recently 12 cases of tuberculosis, 47 of typhoid fever, 184 of malaria, and 384 of dysentery.

Safe methods of disposing of sewage were introduced, houses were screened, an artesian well was bored for a public water supply, and the community cleaned up generally.  After these improvements the various diseases almost entirely disappeared.  Similar results were obtained in 99 other communities in the southern states.

[Footnote:  Report of the Rockefeller Foundation, 1917, pp. 136- 138.]

Topics for investigation: 

The water supply of farms in your locality.  Any recent improvements.

The public water supply (if any) of your community.  Its sources.  Method of purification.  Quality of water.  How the people know it is pure or impure.  Public or private ownership of the supply.  Cost to the householder.

Extent to which the families represented in your class depend upon private wells.  How many have had their well water examined to test its purity.  How to proceed to have water tested.  Who tests it?  Who pays for the test? (If possible, visit the laboratory where the tests are made.)

Number of cases of typhoid fever in your community, now or during last year.  How the information can be obtained.  Is the information likely to be accurate?  Whose business is it to keep a record?  Why should a record be kept?  Why should it be made public?

Causes of typhoid in your community.  Are they preventable?  How?  Observance of quarantine against typhoid.

How may wells become polluted?  Give cases of which you may know.  Study diagram on page 314.

Methods of sewage disposal in your community.  Laws on the subject.  Can you suggest improvements?

Regulation of milk production and handling in your community:  on the farms where it is produced; in the hands of dealers and distributors; in the home.  Who make these regulations?

Outline on a map the area from which your community is supplied with milk.  Show on a map cities that are supplied by your county with dairy products, garden vegetables, meats, etc.