What the Hook?

British Scientist Proposes a Parasite to Remedy Allergies

Do you suffer from asthma, hay fever or some other allergic reaction? If so, how far would you go to get rid of your wheezing, incessant sneezing, itchy and watery eyed symptoms? Giving your allergies the boot has little to do with any drugs and more to do with Necator americanus - the hookworm. Research on hookworms in tropical soil has shown curative promise for autoimmune-related illnesses. Not convinced. Well there are enough believers in this non-FDA approved "helminthic therapy" since a Mexican clinic has been opened by entrepreneur Jasper Lawrence at a whopping cost of close to $4000 a pop per worm inoculation.

The basis for this new found therapy started in 2000 when immunologist Maria Yazdanbakhsh was studying over 500 Gabonese children infected with Schistosoma haematobium, one of a family of parasites that cause schistosomiasis, a parasitic infection uncommon in the United States. Those infected with the parasite had a lower immune response to dust mites which is one of the most common environmental allergens around. Four years later, Dr. David Pritchard took the idea of the hookworm's allergy stopping abilities to the next level when he infected himself with 50 hookworms. The British scientist placed the pin-sized hookworms, which look like maggots on rotting meat, on his arm and covered it with a dressing. The itch as the worms penetrated Pritchard's skin he explains only as "indescribable."

Pritchard's action was a follow-up to his earlier observations in Papua New Guinea during the late 1980s. He observed that Papuans infected with the hookworm, Necator americanus did not experience autoimmune-related illnesses such as hay fever and asthma. Pritchard developed a theory for his observation in New Guinea. He theorized that the parasites figured a way to switch off the body's immune response which created an environment within the host that was suitable for its survival. Consequently, those infected with the hookworm had fewer allergic symptoms.