Early Diseases, Illnesses and Epidemics in Atkinson County, Georgia

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Atkinson County, GA
Early Diseases, Illnesses and Epidemics

(Atkinson county was formed in 1917 from parts of Coffee and Clinch Counties, so make sure and check out those county sites for data prior to 1917!)

Hookworm Disease, 1902
Willacoochee and vicinity, Coffee County, 1902 - 200 cases, 0 death.
Judging from the size of the eggs, all the cases I found in Georgia were due to uncinaria americana. Harris states this his cases were due to the same species.

Willacoochee, Coffee County.—In southern Georgia, Coffee County bears the reputation of being more or less a center for dirt-eaters. It is a sandy, pine-wood district, with numerous swamps, which indicate a more impervious subsoil. As a result, both malaria and uncinariasis were found, and it was exceedingly interesting to note the ease with which an error in diagnosis in medium and light cases could he made if the microscope were not used. Extreme cases, however, could be easily distinguished without the microscope. Several cases of typical extreme uncinariasis were seen on the street, but not examined carefully. Then, through the kindness of Dr. Wilcox, I was able to make a careful examination, both physical and microscopic, of a group of 8 cases at the sawmills a short distance from town. After Dr. Wilcox examined these cases with me, he declared that he knew of at least 200 similar patients within the territory of his practice. He considered this condition one of the most common diseases of that region, but thought malaria was fully as common if not more so. [Source: "Report upon the prevalence and geographic distribution of hookworm disease ... " By Charles Wardell Stiles, PhD., Washington Government Printing Office, 1903 - submitted by K. Torp]