In Gulf Coast And Deep South, Poverty Powers Tropical Diseases: Hookworm, Typhus, Chagas, Zika

[hatrack]

EDIT

Less than a decade ago, Dr. Peter Hotez, founder of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine, coined the term “neglected tropical diseases.” It refers to about 40 chronic and debilitating infections that occur in poverty-stricken places and also cause poverty due to long-term effects on productivity, child development, and pregnancy outcomes.

“I thought I knew what poverty looked like, but [the rural South] was a different animal with low-quality housing and environmental degradation,” Hotez said. “I thought there had to be tropical diseases here if you took the time to look. The problem was no one was willing to go into these poor areas to see if these diseases were here.”

He was right. His team discovered tropical diseases throughout southeastern Texas and Gulf Coast states like Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana. In Lowndes County, they found one third of 55 people tested positive for hookworm, a parasite spread through fecal matter in soil, and also found evidence of toxocariasis, spread through stray dogs and cats. In Houston and other places, researchers have seen cysticercosis, a tapeworm transmitted through human feces; murine typhus, a bacterial infection spread by fleas; Chagas disease, an infection that can lead to heart failure, spread through “kissing bugs” that live in lush vegetation; West Nile virus and Zika, spread through certain mosquito species.

The rates of these diseases are likely to be exacerbated by the effects of climate change. According to a 2017 study in Science, the American South stands to see the most economic losses from climate change. It predicts many counties will see 5 to 15 percent damages to their gross domestic product per year by the 2080s. More frequent extreme weather events like Hurricanes Harvey in Texas and Irma in Florida and Puerto Rico are hitting Southern coasts causing flooding and storm damage. A 2015 Climate Central study showed Alabama alone has thousands of vulnerable people and billions of dollars worth of property and infrastructure at risk of flooding.

EDIT

https://southerlymag.org/2018/07/05/the-rural-souths-invisible-public-health-crisis/

[appalachiablue]

1. The occurence and impacts of diseases in the US deep south

was brought out in the new UN Report on Poverty and Inequality in the US written by Philip Alston, UN Rapporteur.

*Already, the top 0.1% holds as much of the country’s wealth as the bottom 90% (i.e. almost everyone reading these words).
Alston writes:

*US infant mortality rates in 2013 were the highest in the developed world.

*Americans can expect to live shorter and sicker lives, compared to people living in any other rich democracy, and the “health gap” between the U.S. and its peer countries continues to grow.

*U.S. inequality levels are far higher than those in most European countries.

*Neglected tropical diseases, including Zika, are increasingly common in the USA. It has been estimated that 12 million Americans live with a neglected parasitic infection. A 2017 report documents the prevalence of hookworm in Lowndes County, Alabama.

*The US has the highest prevalence of obesity in the developed world.

*In terms of access to water and sanitation the US ranks 36th in the world.

https://www.democraticunderground.com/1016209206