Parasitic diseases hit U.S. poor
From Times Staff and Wire Reports
Roundworms may infect nearly one-fourth of inner-city black children, tapeworms are the leading cause of seizures among Latinos, and other parasitic diseases associated with poor countries are also affecting Americans, a U.S. expert said this week.
Recent studies show many of the poorest Americans carry some of the same parasitic infections that affect the poor in Africa, Asia and Latin America, said Dr. Peter Hotez of George Washington University, editor-in-chief of the Public Library of Science’s Neglected Tropical Diseases.
