Ankylostomiasis : its cause, treatment, and prevention.

Date:
[1903]
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Ankylostomiasis : its cause, treatment, and prevention. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    APPENDIX I. (Circular issued to Miners by the Knappschaftsverein Bochum.) THE MALIGNANT WORM DISEASE (ANKYLOSTOMIASIS) is not indigenous, but has been introduced into the country by foreign miners. In our country it is confined to miners, and with few exceptions to such as are engaged underground. The embryo worms (eggs and larvae) can only exist in warm, moist places, out of the sunlight. Consequently the pit presents the most favourable conditions for their development. When a fully-developed larva—which is too small to be seen by the naked eye—makes its way into the human stomach, and then into the bowels, it develops further into the full-grown worm. This worm immediately attaches itself to the walls of the bowel, and there sucks | blood like a leech. In addition, the bite of the worm is j poisonous. The consequence is that the man attacked by the worm becomes gradually weakened, and his face, lips and ears turn pale and livid. The eyes are dimmed, and the inside i of the eyelids turns pale and even white. The sufferer is | easily tired, a feeling which increases every day, and occasionally swelling of the feet ensues. When this stage is reached, it is urgently necessary that the worms should be got rid of, or life is endangered. If, however, the illness is detected in good time, it can be easily cured by certain proved remedies which expel the worms. The chief means of preventing the malady, after all, is to guard against the admission of the embryo worms into the body, and this can be done by the exercise of a little care. The worms gain entry into the body through the mouth. The full-grown worms are only met with in the bowels, nowhere else. There the female lays a large number of eggs, which, however, cannot develop into larvae until they have left the body, in the faeces, and are deposited in a suitable place—that is to say, in a warm part of the mine. A single stool (faeces) from a person infected with the disease may contain many thousands of eggs, and even millions. If the stool is deposited in a closet or pit pail, then the eggs, and the larvae which hatch out in a few days, can be removed without danger. If, however, the stool is deposited on the ground, in a corner, in the water gutter, or any other open place in the pit, everyone who afterwards comes in | contact with it, either with the hands or the boots, runs a great danger of himself becoming infected, once the larvae are on his person. Furthermore, every place afterwards touched by the polluted boots becomes a source of infection if the worms get on the hands and into the mouths of other miners. If all miners, without exception, abandon the practice of depositing their faeces on the ground, the disease will disappear of itself, as there will then no longer be any dissemination of the larvae. Consequently, every miner should make a practice of relieving himself, at home or at the pit bank, before entering the pit; and, in case of need while at work, should use the pit pails only. The fear of some miners that the pails themselves form a source of infection are quite groundless. The infection is not incurred at the pails, but only in the manner described above. The following rules should therefore be observed:— 1. Miners should become habituated to relieve themselves before entering the pit. 2. In case of need while at work, they should resort to the pails only, and ought to use every means to induce their comrades to employ this essential precaution, for the sake of the whole staff. If any man, through carelessness or obstinacy, neglects this most necessary precaution, his comrades should, for their own protection, have no hesita- tion in denouncing him. He will then be dismissed. 3. The greatest care should be taken to keep the hands out of contact with the mouth while in the pit. This applies particularly to the insertion of the fingers into the mouth, in order to take out a quid of tobacco, and also to picking the teeth, or wiping dust and dirt from the lips and moustache. It is far better to leave this dirt until the time of washing at the end of the shift. 4. Drinking vessels (coffee cans) should be kept, as far as possible, from contamination. On no account should the mouth of the can be wiped with the hand before or after drinking. 5. All eatables should be taken hold of with a piece of paper, so as to keep them out of contact with the fingers. 6. The hands should not be washed in the pit gutters. 7. It is advisable not to carry the lamp by putting the hook in the mouth when going up and down ladders, &c. 8. On entering the washing hall the hands should first be well washed with soap and water before washing the face and the rest of the body. (A circular of similar tenour is issued by the Mons Ankylostomiasis Commission.)