Health Highlight: Mon. 22, May.
Today’s Highlight(s): A parasite study in Alabama finds some disturbing results about infection rates in the impoverished Mississippi Delta.
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THE BRIEF
In an article published in The Conversation on May 19th, Theresa Gildner, an assistant professor of biological anthropology at Washington University in Saint Louis, highlighted research from the Rural Embodiment and Community Health (REACH) study, which was launched in 2019.
The study sought to establish links between health outcomes and environmental factors in underdeveloped rural communities in the Mississippi Delta.
“We are especially interested in assessing the prevalence of Neglected Tropical Diseases, such [as] soil-transmitted helminths (STH; i.e., intestinal parasitic worms found largely in low-income communities).” 1
Double-click
In sampling one predominantly Black community, it was discovered that almost 40% of the children had intestinal parasitic infections and that high levels of inflammation were present in 80% of that sample. 2
In a follow-up analysis in 2022 that focused on adults, it was found that almost 3/4 of adults had elevated intestinal inflammation, with almost half also infected with an ulcer-causing bacteria that has been linked to cancer, H.pylori. 2
What in the Mississippi is going on?
In the case of the Mississippi study (which also included parts of Southwestern Illinois), the researchers looked at regular flooding as the culprit, but it wasn’t simply the weather that was causing these infections.
In a 2017 study, Human Intestinal Parasite Burden and Poor Sanitation in Rural Alabama it was found that exposure to raw sewage was leading to these growing infections. These findings led to legal action by the Biden Administration, culminating in a court ruling earlier this month against Alabama’s Department of Health (ADPH) for discriminating against its Black residents by not providing them with basic sanitation measures.
“Rural residents of Lowndes County are not connected to municipal sewage systems. Some have septic tanks while poorer families use stopgap measures like pipes and ditches to move wastewater.” 3
MORE
The Center for Rural Enterprise and Environmental Justice (“CREEJ”)
60 Minutes investigates: Americans fighting for access to sewage disposal
Keywords 🏷️: #Parasites #EnvironmentalJustice #IntestinalWorms #HealthInequity
NOTES
“Rural Embodiment and Community Health (REACH) Study”
“Parasitic infections hit the health of low-income Black communities where states have neglected sewage systems”
“US settles landmark Alabama environmental justice case”
https://www.reuters.com/legal/us-settles-landmark-alabama-environmental-justice-case-2023–05–04/