Study finds no cases of soil-transmitted hookworm in Black Belt children, despite ongoing sanitation and public health crisis

While it has long been thought that the most direct health effect linked to the sanitation crisis in the Black Belt was due to soil-transmitted hookworm, a study led by UAB found no evidence of transmission. Claudette Poole, M.D., and Amy Chatham, Ph.D.A study published in Emerging Infectious Diseases found no cases of soil-transmitted hookworm in hundreds of tested children, refuting a long thought public health concern that linked the illness to the ongoing sanitation crisis plaguing Alabama’s Black Belt region. The study tested stool specimens from 704 children from Alabama’s Wilcox and Perry counties for STH. Results surprisingly found no traces of STH in any samples, despite 12 percent of the study cohort reporting living in homes that directly discharge untreated domestic wastewater. While survey data did not conclude STH to be a leading cause of illness in the region, the study does suggest that a significant percentage of children in the Black Belt may be exposed to raw sewage, presenting a major public health concern where attention should be refocused.  “The suggestion of hookworm in the Black Belt region of Alabama was the most direct health effect that could be linked to the sanitation crisis in the region,”...