Hooked on You

Although it’s smaller than the head of a pin, this tiny hookworm egg represents a big problem. Over half a billion people around the world are infected with hookworms every year – parasites that live in the guts, causing stunted growth in children, complications in pregnancy, and other serious health problems. Hookworm infection is treated with drugs called benzimidazoles, but because farm animals are also treated in the same way, many parasites have developed resistance to this therapy. Monitoring how drug resistant hookworms are spreading through populations usually relies on reading the DNA of the worms and their eggs in faeces samples, but doing this quickly in the developing world – where advanced lab equipment might not be easily available – is a challenge. Scientists have now developed a faster, quicker test to spot drug resistant hookworms out in the wild, which should help researchers to track and control infections more effectively.

Written by Kat Arney

Kat Arney

Writer

Dr Kat Arney is an award-winning science writer, broadcaster and public speaker, and is the founder and Creative Director of First Create The Media.

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• Image courtesy of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), Atlanta, GA, USA
• Institute of Parasitology, Macdonald College, McGill University, Ste Anne de Bellevue, QC, Canada
• Image copyright held by the photographer
• Research published in PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases, December 2016