What are the benefits of hookworms?
However, more recently, his research has found that these parasites might actually offer a benefit: certain proteins found in hookworm saliva could be used to treat inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and other autoimmune diseases. Hookworms are parasites that cause mild diarrhea in both people and animals. As their name suggests, they have hooks on their mouth that help them attach better to the intestines of their host. Humans affected can also develop a skin condition called cutaneous larva migrans.Many people with hookworm infection do not have symptoms. However at the start of a hookworm infection, an itchy, red, raised rash (ground itch) may develop where the larvae penetrate the skin. The movement of the larvae through the lungs can cause fever, coughing, eosinophilia, and wheezing.In most cases, hookworm treatment includes an anthelmintic medication (medication used to destroy parasitic worms) orally (by mouth) for one to seven days. Your provider may prescribe these medicines to get rid of parasitic worms: Mebendazole (Vermox® or Emverm®). Albendazole (Albenza®).Adult hookworms cause morbidity in the host by producing intestinal hemorrhage [3]. The adult hookworms then ingest the blood, rupture the erythrocytes, and degrade the hemoglobin [11]. Therefore, the disease attributed to hookworm is silent blood loss leading to iron deficiency anemia and protein malnutrition.