The Situation with Health Services in South American States

115 million plus individuals stay in South American currently making about one-third of the United States population. This includes; Texas, Oklahoma, Kentucky, Delaware, Maryland and West Virginia Compared to other regions, Southerners are more likely to be uninsured, less likely to have access to needed health services, and more likely to experience a number of health conditions such as diabetes and heart disease. Compared to other regions, Southerners seem to be more uninsured, don’t have access to needed health services, and more likely to experience a number of health conditions such as diabetes and heart disease.

115 million plus individuals stay in South American currently making about one-third of the United States population. This includes; Texas, Oklahoma, Kentucky, Delaware, Maryland and West Virginia. Demographically, Mississippi is already at a disadvantage. A black man in Mississippi has a shorter life expectancy than the average American did in 1960. The state has an obesity rate of 35 percent, one of the highest poverty rates in the country, and just one abortion clinic. Healthcare in Mississippi and in other Southern states is unlikely to become more equitable anytime soon, however. As the study authors note, 16 of the states in the bottom half of the ranking have opted not to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act to adults making up to 138 percent of the federal poverty level. In Mississippi, for example, "Medicaid eligibility for non-disabled adults is limited to parents with incomes below 29 percent of poverty or about $6,800 a year for a family of four, and adults without dependent children remain ineligible regardless of their income," as the Kaiser Family Foundation points out Bilharzia Cercarial dermatitis or swimmer's itch results when cercariae of schistosomes penetrate human skin and initiate inflammatory responses.

The parasites typically die in the skin but in some cases may persist and infect other organs. Cercarial dermatitis is caused by a complex and poorly known assemblage of schistosome species and can occur in any location where people come in contact with water bodies harboring schistosome-infected snails. In North America, most cases are reported from the upper Midwest. In the south-western USA, this phenomenon has not been well studied, and it is not known which schistosome species are present, or if cercarial dermatitis occurs with any regularity. As part of our ongoing studies of schistosome diversity, using morphological traits and sequence data to differentiate species, we have thus far identified eight schistosome genetic lineages from snails from New Mexico and Colorado. We have investigated two cercarial dermatitis outbreaks, one occurring in Stubblefield Lake in northern New Mexico, and one in Prospect Lake in the heart of Colorado Springs, Colorado.

The New Mexico outbreak involved either one or two different avian schistosome species, both transmitted by physid snails. The Colorado outbreak was due to Trichobilharzia brane, a species transmitted by geese and the snail Gyraulus parvus. These outbreaks are in contrast to those in northern states where schistosomes infecting snails of the family Lymnaeidae are more often responsible for outbreaks. Our survey suggests that dermatitis-causing schistosomes are not rare in the southwest and that there are plenty of opportunities for dermatitis outbreaks to occur in this region. Infection occurs when your skin comes in contact with contaminated freshwater in which certain types of snails that carry schistosomes are living.

Freshwater becomes contaminated by Schistosoma eggs when infected people urinate or defecate in the water. The eggs hatch, and if certain types of freshwater snails are present in the water, the parasites develop and multiply inside the snails. The parasite leaves the snail and enters the water where it can survive for about 48 hours. Schistosoma parasites can penetrate the skin of persons who are wading, swimming, bathing, or washing in contaminated water. Within several weeks, parasite mature into adult worms, residing in the blood vessels of the body where the females produce eggs. Some of the eggs travel to the bladder or intestine and are passed into the urine or stool.