Hookworm
Hookworms are parasitic worms that primarily inhabit soil and can penetrate the skin, often entering through the bare feet of humans and various animals. They belong to the phylum Nematoda and include two main genera: Ancylostoma and Necator, with over 65 species identified. Annually, hookworm infections affect millions globally, leading to a disease characterized by anemia, which manifests as weakness, breathlessness, and fatigue. This condition can be particularly detrimental for children and young animals, resulting in stunted growth and significant weight loss.
Once inside a host, hookworms migrate through the bloodstream to the lungs and eventually settle in the intestines, where they attach to the lining and feed on the host's blood. A female hookworm can lay thousands of eggs daily, contributing to the cycle of infection, especially in areas with poor sanitation. While the seriousness of the disease depends on the number of worms and the host's nutrition, treatment is available, and preventive measures such as proper sanitation and wearing shoes can help mitigate the risk of infection. Despite their prevalence, hookworm infections are rarely fatal, and no species of hookworm is currently threatened.
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Hookworm
This parasitic worm lives in the soil and pierces the skin of animals and the bare feet of people. It then makes its home in its host's intestine and causes a disease called hookworm, which infects millions of people each year around the world.
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Nematoda
Class: Chromadorea
Order: Rhabditida
Family: Ancylostomatidae
Genus: Various (see below)
Species: Various (see below)
There are two genera of hookworm, Ancylostoma and Necator. Within these genera are over 65 species of hookworms. Hookworm is a disease which is caused by the tiny worm. Each year this disease infects millions of people around the world. The same species of worm or other species within its family cause hookworm in many dogs, cats, pigs, sheep, and other animals. Hookworm results in a condition called anemia, which means that the victims' blood is missing important cells or that the victims have less blood. This results in general weakness, breathlessness, and tiredness. Other effects of hookworm, particularly in the cases of children and young animals, are stunted growth and severe weight loss so that the victims become very thin.
The worm which causes this disease has similar general body features as other roundworms in this phylum. An adult of this species grows to be eight to 13 millimeters long. The hookworm has a stout body and a large, toothed mouth.
The hookworm lives in the soil, primarily in tropical and subtropical regions, but people throughout the world may become infected with this worm. A young worm pierces bare skin, most often a person's bare feet. The worm then travels through the blood or lymph systems to the heart, lungs, and all the other passages which are part of the respiratory, or breathing, system. It then moves through the tubes leading to the intestine, where all of a person's food goes.
Three or more days after entering the body, the worm finishes its development. The adult worm attaches itself with its teeth to the lining of the intestine. This worm is a parasite, or an animal which lives on or inside another animal, called the host. As a parasite, its diet is the blood of the host in whose body it lives. As it sucks blood, it steals nourishment and oxygen from the host. It also secretes juices which keep the blood from clotting, so that cuts in the host's body do not heal quickly or as they should.
Six weeks after entering the host, a male and female hookworm mate in the intestine. The female then lays between 10,000 and 30,000 eggs a day. The eggs pass from the host's body with bodily wastes. In some countries with poor sanitation, the eggs and waste find their way into the ground and onto vegetation. Within five days the eggs hatch, and a new generation of hookworms is present in the soil and waiting to infect another host. An adult hookworm may live up to five years, although its average life span is around one year.
The seriousness of hookworm disease depends on the number of worms inside a host's body and the host's diet. A host with few worms may be able to get rid of the worms as the body fights the infection and kills them. Another host may be able to live with a small number of worms inside as long as their diet includes a lot of food which is high in iron. Iron builds up the strength and the quantity of the blood supply. Hookworm may also be treated with medications. The best ways to fight hookworm disease is prevention through proper sanitation and wearing shoes. Very few people die from this disease. No species of hookworm is threatened.
Bibliography
Fetouh, Nagla. “ADW: Ancylostoma Duodenale: Information.” Animal Diversity Web, 2003, animaldiversity.org/accounts/Ancylostoma‗duodenale. Accessed 13 Apr. 2024.
"Hookworm Disease: What Is It, Causes, Symptoms, & Treatment.” Cleveland Clinic, 24 June 2021, my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/14072-hookworm-disease. Accessed 13 Apr. 2024.