When the English were infested with parasitic worms

Infectious diseases caused by parasitic worms have, for the most part, disappeared from European countries. But this was not always the case. A few centuries ago, these parasitoses wreaked havoc among our English neighbours.

Worm infections parasites are no longer endemic in Europe. That doesn’t mean thatthey completely disappearedbut that they are exceptional and often concern people from countries in which these parasitoses still wreak havoc – especially under the tropics.

It wasn’t always like this, there was a time when Europeans were also infested with worms. English researchers tried to go back in time thanks to parasite eggs isolated from graves human. A total of 17 historical sites were analysed, covering five periods of history: prehistory, the Roman period (I^er at V^and century), the Anglo-Saxon period (V^and to the^and century), the Middle Ages (XI^and in the 16th^and century) and the beginnings of the industrial era (XVIII^and in the 19th^and century). L’analogy between the real prevalence of parasitic infections in the population of the different periods is not made possible from these analyses, but they nevertheless make it possible to imagine the sanitary conditions in which these people lived.

The history of parasitic infections in England

The collected eggs belong to two species of nematode, Ascaris sp. and Trichuris sp., and two species of cestodes, Taenia spp and Diphyllobothrium latum. Nematodes infect humans mainly through contact with contaminated stool, while cestodes are present in food – meat or fish – eaten raw or undercooked.

Parasites have been identified for all periods, but with great disparity. Of all, Ascaris is the most frequent. It has been isolated from nearly 40% of sites dating from the Roman period and 30% of sites from the Middle Ages. These results contrast with the presence of Trichuris, which however is transmitted in the same way, but which is absent from the sites of the Roman period, and present at less than 10% of the sites of the Middle Ages. As for cestodes, the tapeworm is the most present, especially in prehistoric and medieval burials.

It seems thatAscaris preferentially infected children up to 12 years old during the Middle Ages, without distinction of sex. The results for the other periods and the other parasites are not robust enough to draw any conclusion.

The decline of parasitosis in the industrial era

During the beginning of the industrial era, parasitosis caused by nematodes drastically decreased. Very few, if any, parasite eggs were found at two of the three sites investigated dating from this time. The reason mentioned by the researchers is the improvement of sanitary facilities but also the declining use of night soil – human excrement collected in latrines and other private toilets and sold as fertilizer which took place during the years 1830-1860.

The prevalence of parasitoses in history is still a little studied subject, but it seems that it was not uncommon to have intestines full of worms in Europe a few centuries ago.