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The topic hookworm is discussed in the following articles:
...world, very few people are affected by allergies or asthma. In those areas, millions of people are infected with Necator americanus, a species of hookworm. Studies have shown that hookworms reduce the risk of asthma by decreasing the activity of the human host’s immune system. In 2006 a clinical trial conducted in a small number of patients demonstrated that deliberate...
...humans, dogs, or cats caused by bloodsucking worms (see photograph) living in the small intestine—sometimes associated with secondary anemia. Several species of hookworm can cause the disease. Necator americanus, which ranges in size from 5 to 11 millimetres (0.2 to 0.4 inch), is responsible for about 90 percent of human hookworm infections that occur...
...is common in infancy and childhood because demands are great for the ever-expanding pool of circulating hemoglobin in the growing body, and in pregnancy when the fetus must be supplied with iron. Hookworm infestation is a common cause of iron deficiency where conditions for the worm are favourable, because the intestinal blood loss caused by the myriad of worms attached to the wall is great.
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